Second Chances
by Toa Naruto
Summary: Many have thought that death would be the "end of the line". But for Naruto, death was only the beginning. Watch what happens when Naruto gains a second chance at pursuing what he was denined in his old life: happiness, respect, and love. NarutoXRangiku. First shot at a BLEACH fic.
1. The End and a New Beginning

**Second Chances **

**Wazzup! Hey, I've decided to do something out of the ordinary. This will be a Naruto/Bleach crossover, with the main pairing being Naruto Uzumaki with Rangiku Matsumoto. "Why this pairing?", you might ask. Well, I believe that this pairing has potential, since they both had somewhat similar childhoods. Plus, there are very few **_**good**_** stories with this pairing, so I thought I might as well give it a try. Warning, this my first time writing something for BLEACH, so please don't flame this the instant you read it. Also, any tips and/or pointers about the BLEACH-world will be helpful. I own nothing! **

'_Blah'_- inner thoughts

"Blah"** -** talking

'_**Blah' **_- demon/monster speaking

"**Blah" -** jutsu being performed

"**BLAH"** - really angry yelling

**# **- scene change

**1 **

**Chapter 1: An End and a New Beginning **

"Well, I'd say that it's about time we finish this little battle…and all of the battles we've had since we became a team!" shouted Sasuke. But this wasn't the Sasuke that was loved by the civilians of Konohagakure or by nearly all of the girls of his age group. No, that Sasuke was long gone, and was replaced by something that one would say only existed in nightmares. Gone was the mysterious, secluded boy that several of the young kunoichi fawned over. In his place was a gray-skinned monstrosity with ash-colored hair, and wings shaped like giant hands with small "fingers" jutting out all over them. The sclera of his eyes were jet black, with the Sharingan still visible as the cornea. In the middle of his nose was a black shuriken-shaped mark, and his lips looked as if here were wearing black lipstick, with enlarged teeth that looked like fangs jutting out.

If the Uchiha's appearance wasn't unsettling enough, then his opponent was more capable of frightening any regular passerby. Standing several feet across from the winged avenger was a boy wearing an orange jumpsuit that was torn and scratched in several places. The most noticeable damaged area was the hole that was in front of and behind his right shoulder, giving it the appearance that someone's fist had punched through him. The boy's face had a pair of three jagged whisker-like marks that looked as if they were carved into each of his cheeks. His eyes were dark red, with thin slits for pupils, giving them the appearance of a demon. But the finishing piece to his terrifying look was the large mass of "boiling" red chakra in the shape of a fox, that was surrounding his entire body.

Their battle ground was at the rocky base of a large waterfall with two enormous statues of Konoha's founding fathers facing each other on opposite sides. To the right of the waterfall was the Shodaime Hokage, Hashirama Senju. Facing directly in front of the Senju monument was the first original leader of the Uchiha clan, Madara Uchiha. This specific area was named "The Valley of the End", due to the notorious battle between the two founding fathers which forever altered the landscape. In remembrance, the people of Konoha carved enormous statues of the combatants on the opposite sides of the large waterfall, symbolizing the undying conflict that lasted between them.

But the most ironic part of the current area was that another battle of similar epic proportions was taking place. On Madara's side stood Sasuke Uchiha, the "top rookie" of his graduating ninja academy class, who was attempting to defect from Konoha in order to train under Orochimaru, the traitorous Snake Sanin. On Hashirama's side was Naruto Uzumaki, the jinchuriki of the Kyubi no Kitsune, and the "dead last" amongst his peers. His reason for being here? He was part of the team charged with the task of subduing Sasuke and bringing him back to Konoha. Unfortunately, the escort that was responsible for bringing Sasuke to Otokagure were Orochimaru's personal guard, five dangerous Oto nin that were highly proficient at using the traitorous sanin's curse mark. The retrieval team was forced to combat these…ninja…with each member fighting one Oto nin by themselves. This resulted in Naruto ending up as the only one left to pursue the rogue Sasuke. Naruto had chased after the renegade until he finally caught up to him at the monument, hoping that he could try to reason with his wayward teammate. To the young blonde's dismay, however, Sasuke was dead set on defecting from Konoha, and was willing to kill anyone that stood in his way. That part had really hurt Naruto, as he somewhat saw Sasuke as an annoying prick of a friend.

After Sasuke had tried to kill him twice, he was forced to use the Kyubi's chakra and take action against the Uchiha. This gave the young Uzumaki a much needed edge against Sasuke, who couldn't land a single strike against the Kyubi-powered genin. Not one to be outdone by anyone, Sasuke activated the second state of his Heaven Curse Mark, which evened the playing field for the Uchiha. Now, after a long and fierce battle, both combatants were on their last legs, and had enough strength for one final attack. But the last attack meant something different to each combatant. For Naruto, it was his last chance to bring Sasuke back and fulfill his promise to Sakura. For Sasuke, it was his one chance to finally break free from the very village that had been holding him back and finally obtain vengeance against Itachi.

'_This will end it!_' thought the two ninjas, as they prepared their final attacks. Sasuke thrust his left palm towards the ground, and began to channel lightning chakra, producing condensed bluish-white sparks. But then, Sasuke began to channel the curse mark's chakra into the attack, causing the sparks to change to a menacing black color, and the chirping sound that usually accompanied the jutsu was replaced with a sound similar to flapping wings. Meanwhile, Naruto was trying his best to form a Rasengan, but was having some difficulty. His left arm had become numb from the extended use of the Kyubi's chakra and he needed two hands to perform the jutsu correctly. Despite this, Naruto concentrated on forming a Rasengan in his right hand. Surprisingly, he felt the chakra starting to condense, not knowing that the demon fox's influence was responsible for this as well as the chakra orb's size and color. The chakra condensed even further into a spiraling purple sphere that was surrounded by a layer of red demonic chakra. Without wasting anymore time, the two combatants launched themselves towards one another, determined to finish the fight in one final strike, the distance was closed in seconds.

"**CHIDORI!**"

"**RASENGAN!**"

The two jutsus collided with a massive clash, both of them fighting to overcome the other. The two different types of chakra caused a massive reaction, which expanded until the two shinobi were engulfed by it, and made the down pouring water from the waterfall split. Not a second later, the sphere emitted a blinding light unlike any that has been witnessed before.

**1 **

_With Kakashi _

Kakashi was at loss with words at the sight that he saw afar. He had hoped that he could get to his students in time, before either of them killed one another. But, it was obvious that he was too late. As he continued towards his students, he thought back to when his genin team had just started out. He thought about everything that they had went through, trying to figure out where things went wrong. Sure, he could've done a few things differently, and he could have tried to spend equal amount of time with each of his students, but things just got too complicated. After everything that happened from the team's first high ranked mission to the chunin exams, Sasuke's situation needed the most attention. After all, how else would he have been able to survive against Gaara?

'_I just hope that I can get there in time to at least keep the damage to a minimal._' thought Kakashi, as he and Pakkun doubled their pace.

**1 **

Within the sphere, both Naruto and Sasuke fought with all their might to come out top. The two of them were reaching their limits, the strength in their attacks being drastically reduced to their own natural chakra, and they both knew that they needed to end the battle quickly. At the same time, the boys forced their attacks towards different directions; Naruto's Rasengan went upwards, while Sasuke's Chidori traveled downwards. The lightning style jutsu plunged through Naruto's chest, stabbing through the center and out the other side. Naruto felt the traitor's jutsu rip into his body, as well as the blood rushing towards his mouth, but somehow managed to keep the Rasengan albeit being drastically weakened. Desperation finally taking full effect for the blonde, Naruto thrust his hand towards the head, connecting with the area around Sasuke's left eye. Despite the excruciating pain they were both in, the two genin struggled with all their might until the searing light was too much, causing them to break their concentration. Then, everything went black.

**1 **

After what seemed like an eternity, Naruto finally regained consciousness. Getting to his feet, he immediately saw the crumpled form of Sasuke Uchiha not too far away from where he was. The young turncoat was desperately trying to get to his feet, and seemed to be clutching the area where his left eye was. After several attempts, Sasuke managed to somehow stand up, but was having trouble just staying upright. As he slowly staggered to where Naruto was standing, he noticed that blood was seeping through Sasuke's fingers. Suddenly, Sasuke stopped to catch his breath, and slowly removed his hand to reveal the most horrendous wound Naruto ever saw up close. Even though Sasuke's left eye appeared to be unharmed, the area around it was bloody, mutilated, and viciously torn up. The wounds appeared as a wide, red circle, with Sasuke's eye in the center.

"Are you finally ready to come back home Sasuke? It looks like you can barely stand up, let alone fight. I don't want to hurt you any further, but I _will _if I must!" shouted Naruto, who found it odd that he wasn't out of breath or sore all over. He found it even more odd that Sasuke was acting like he wasn't there, like he was invisible or something.

"Hey, Sasuke, are you listening to me?" shouted Naruto, hoping his louder tone would get break Sasuke out of his trance. But to his dismay, Sasuke said nothing, but started to limp towards Naruto again, like he was determined to close the distance between them. Even though the Uchiha was sounding like every step was killing him, he carried on regardless. This only made Naruto's last nerve finally snap.

"HEY, YOU FUCKING BASTARD! ANSWER ME WH-" But what happened next effectively stopped the blonde's rant. Instead of shoving him away, or starting the fight again like Naruto had expected him to, Sasuke just walked right _through_ him like he was some sort of illusion! When Naruto tried to turn around, he suddenly collapsed to his hands and knees, feeling completely drained of energy for some unexplained reason. Despite this sudden new development, Naruto willed himself to move his body so that he could see where Sasuke was heading. It was like trying to crawl around with five hundred pounds attached to his body, but he nonetheless successfully managed to move his body so that he could see what Sasuke was walking towards. But what met his sight was something that he never wanted, let alone comprehend, to see with his own eyes. There, right in front of him, stood Sasuke staring down his own body, with a gaping, bloody hole right were his heart would be. Already, blood was steadily flowing out of the wound.

Sasuke just stared at the corpse that used to be his opponent, as if he couldn't really accept that he had killed Naruto. Suddenly, Sasuke felt blood rush up to his throat, and was forced to hack it up. As the blood spattered onto the body's face, Sasuke collapsed to his knees out of fatigue, his face inches away from touching the corpse's face. As he stared at the now lifeless face, his headband slipped off of his head, and clattered to the ground (right next to the head). Sasuke's blank stare then twisted into a smirk.

"Heh, just like I predicted, not a scratch on my headband." said Sasuke, in an arrogant tone, before he winced and clutched at his left eye. "But, I didn't expect you to actually go for a crippling shot, I'll give you that. Ugh, I think you might have blinded me; I may have lost the ability to use the Sharingan in this eye. But, it's thanks to you that I am one step closer to obtaining vengeance on Itachi." As Sasuke turned to face beyond the Valley of the End, Naruto saw Sasuke's right eye contort and change until it hardly even looked like a Sharingan. It had a black background , and a six-pointed red star on top of it. As he got up on his feet and began to walk towards the border separating Hi no Kuni and Oto no Kuni, going through Naruto again, Sasuke spared one last glance towards Naruto's body.

"For all its worth, I really wish that someone else that tried to stop me." said Sasuke quietly, before turning back and continuing on towards Otogakure. Naruto, getting somewhat control of his shock, tried once again to follow after the escaping Sasuke, only to trip and fall to the ground once again. Only this time, he heard a familiar rattling sound. Looking down, Naruto was shocked to see that he had a long chain coming from where his heart should be. After giving the chain a few tugs, he saw that the chain was somehow attached to the ground.

"Wha? What the hell is going on here? Why did Sasuke go through me like that? Why are there two of me? And why am I chained to the ground? I don't understand what's going on!" shouted Naruto, whilst trying to break the chain off of him. All rational thought had escaped him; it was of he were in some nightmare that he couldn't escape from. Just seeing his own body with the gaping hole in his chest was too much for him to handle.

"I wouldn't be yankin' on that if I were you, kiddo." said a laid-back voice from behind the blonde.

The currently freaked out blonde immediately stopped pulling on his chain, and whipped around behind him to see who had just spoken. What he saw was not something that he would've expected. Standing behind him was a girl that was about three years older than him. She had bright brown eyes with a few freckles on her cheeks, and had her sandy blonde hair in two pigtails. For some odd reason, Naruto noticed that a fang-like tooth was sticking out from her left upper lip. She was dressed in a black kosode and hakama, along with a white hakama-himo, tabi socks, and waraji shoes. Another thing he noticed was that there was some sort of badge that was tied around her left upper arm. Currently she was staring directly at where Naruto was.

"Trust me, kiddo, you do not want to damage that chain you're pulling on. Once it breaks and corrodes…well, let's just say there are fates far worse than dying." she added for good measure.

The shock of seeing the girl staring at him caused Naruto to stop pulling on his chain and stare back at the strange girl that didn't seem to be freaked out at seeing him chained near a dead body identical to himself. It seemed as if they were like that for hours, until the girl decided to break the silence.

"Oi, stop staring at me like that! It's already obvious that I can see you." interjected the girl, an agitated look replacing her once calm expression.

"Wh-what? Are you serious? Can you really see me?" Naruto nearly shouted. "You're not pulling my leg?

"Oh please, what kind of girl do you take me for? I never joke about my job or the dead." she said in a dead serious tone.

"What? What do you mean I'm dead?" How can you see me if I'm dead? Who, or what are you, huh? Answer me!"

"Hey, don't take that tone me, bub! It's not my fault that bastard ran you through with that flashy lightning attack. If you weren't dead, then why is there another _you _laying on the ground, stained with your blood?" she shouted, immediately shutting up the panicked blonde. "And as for how I know all of this, I'm a shinigami, it's my job."

This caused the blonde to tilt his head slightly to the side, like a fox would when it saw something confusing. "I'm sorry, but when you say _'shinigami' _do you mean…"

The girl just rolled her eyes, having heard the unasked question over a thousand times. "That's right, I'm what your people call a soul reaper." she answered brusquely, hoping that this soul would stop asking questions. She didn't want to be here longer than what was necessary. She walked brusquely towards the recently deceased, intending on performing the konso as quickly as possible, and then going back to her quarters to rest. So she was even more annoyed when the soul suddenly leapt away from her. Even though the soul collapsed in a heap afterwards, huffing like it had just completed five consecutive marathons, that little feat did surprise the soul reaper. Pluses (or benign souls) were able to move somewhat freely, but they became extremely exhausted if they went through extended periods of strenuous movement. Sure, they could move more easily when their "Chain of Fate" was severed, but it would only be a matter of time before they turned into Hollows.

"Hey, what's your problem? I'm trying to help you out here!" shouted the girl, as she tried to get closer to the blonde soul, but was once again forced to avoid another strike that she almost didn't see coming.

"I…don't _**need**_...your help…" replied Naruto, in between deep breaths. He was completely exhausted, but he wasn't about to allow himself to submit to the very being that sealed him to his hard life.

"And _what_, pray tell, makes you think that?"

"I've…already…had one of _**your **_kind…fuck my life up by…sealing the Kyubi into me as a baby…and I…refuse…to be…toyed with…by _**you**_…and _**your**_ kind…again!" snarled Naruto, in between deep pants, his eyes showing that he was still willing to fight.

The girl just stared at Naruto, before she glanced towards her right all the while muttering something. Even though he couldn't make out what she was saying to herself, he could make out something that she referred to as a "fuckin' Jibakurai".

"Oi! Don't act like I'm not even here! Since you obviously know about what's happening to me, then I demand that you tell me what the _**hell**_ is going on!

This proved to be the wrong thing to say, as the pig tailed girl was instant in front of him, holding him by the collar of his jacket nearly inches from her face.

"How dare you take that tone of voice with me! Do you know how easily I can crush you like an insect? Just who the hell do you think you're talking to, brat?" she snarled.

"A stuck-up, rude, feral-looking bitch of a shinigami, that's who!" Naruto shot back, despite his close proximity with the death god. Just then, he heard a loud metallic _snap, _followed by something similar to someone trying to chew metal. Looking down, Naruto saw that the chain was no longer attached to the ground, and that the individual links furthest from his heart had sprouted mouths and were eating and chewing into themselves.

"AH! What the hell is going on now?" screeched Naruto as he yanked himself free from the shinigami's grasp, and began to swing the chain around in a futile attempt to whip the chewing links off of it. If anything, it caused the mouthed links to start chewing faster.

"Hey, you knucklehead! Stop doing that, and just calm down! The more you freak out, the faster you speed up the encroachment process! And once the process completes itself, you'll turn into something worse than a monster!" shouted the female reaper, after nearly getting whacked in the head by the flailing chain. Immediately, Naruto dropped the chain, and raised his arms into the air. The cannibalistic chain links slowed their pace, but continued to chew at a much slower pace.

"Alright, now, let's try this again at more _calmer_ manner." said the pig-tailed girl. "I'm sorry to say this, but you really are dead, kid. The fact that you have an encroaching Chain of Fate attached to your chest proves it. And if you need more proof, then just take a look at your bleeding body behind you."

Naruto quickly glanced back at his own corpse, before turning his attention back to the female shinigami. "But, I've nearly died plenty of times before, like when that traitor Kabuto tried to make mincemeat out of my heart. How do you know that I've actually died? For all I know, the damned fox is holding out on me just to teach me a lesson."

"It's because of your chain. It has already been severed, meaning you can't return to your body; not that it would've done you any good. Besides, the wound that you've sustained was too much for even a demon like the Kyubi no Kitsune to heal." was her reply.

"Yeah, but…wait, what do you know about the Kyubi?"

At this the girl grimaced. "Well_, _having one of us seal something as powerful and chaotic as the Kyubi no Kitsune into a human infant is something that no one in Seireitei isn't known. Even more so that it was done by a _human_ making contact with a shinigami."

"Then, do you know exactly _who _it was that sealed that damn demon into me, or why I can't feel it like I normally do?" asked Naruto hopefully.

The girl just shook her head. "Can't say that do, kid. But as for your second question, I would assume that it had something to do with the seal that imprisoned the beast within you."

'_Of course! The Eight Trigrams Seal!_' thought Naruto. Memories of when he had first meet the fox face to face instantly flooded his mind. It was when Jiraiya had thrown him over a deep gorge in order for him to access his bijou's power more easily. The fox said so himself that if his host died, then he would die as well.

"Look, kid, we really don't have time to play twenty questions. I have to get you to Soul Society, now." said the still mysterious girl.

"But, you can't!" exclaimed Naruto, desperately. "I finally have something worth living for! I still have to become Hokage, and fulfill all of the promises that I made!"

"Tch, I personally don't see why you have to but in so much effort in keeping any promise you made to those two-faced ingrates." muttered the girl with a scowl.

"Hey, don't call my friends that!" shouted Naruto, indignation rising rapidly. "What do you know about my life, anyways?"

"More than you know, Naruto Uzumaki." replied the girl calmly. Seeing the shocked expression on her charge's face, she elaborated. "I did a background check on you while I was looking for your location. And I gotta say, I'm surprised that you actually want to go back to the life you had. If I were in your place, I would have left your village ages ago. Unless, you're some kinda masochist that enjoys having everyone put you down and treat you like dirt."

"Hey, it wasn't that bad! Sure, most of the people in the village hated me and saw me as the fox demon reincarnated, but there were a few people that acknowledged me."

"Oh yeah? Name them."

"Well, there's the Old Man and my old academy sensei, Iruka Umino for starters." began Naruto.

"Your "_Old Man_" was the leader of the village; he had an entire village to look after. If he really cared about you, then why didn't he do something more drastic to make sure that you had a better life growing up? The fact that he just gave you your own crappy apartment when you got kicked out of the orphanage just shows how he only does the barest minimum when it comes to you. And as for Mr. Sea Dolphin, he practically treated you with cold indifference like everyone else up until he was nearly killed by his traitorous comrade." was her rebuttal.

"Don't you dare say that! That's not true! They cared for me when I was younger, when everyone else treated me like shit!" growled Naruto, causing the encroachment to speed up quickly.

"Okay! Okay! I'm sorry, I take it back. They _did _care about you." said the girl in a placating manner, slowing down the encroachment process once again. "Are there any others?"

"Yes, there's Teuichi and Ayame, from Ichiraku's Ramen Bar. They were always nice to me."

"Okay, that's four people."

"There's Pervy Sage and Grandma Tsunade, they were nice to me…most of the time. There's the Rookie Nine from my class, as well as Bushy Brow's team,"

"Okay, now hold up for a minute." interrupted the girl. "How can you say that? Because, both you and I know that's not entirely true."

Naruto gave her a look, before continuing on. "Okay, so I didn't really get along with Neji, Tenten, Ino, or that Shino guy, but I'm on reasonable terms with everybody else, especially with my t-"

"Stop right there." said the shinigami abruptly. "I've seen several cases of delusion, but yours, kid, is by far the worst I've ever seen."

"And what's that supposed to mean? Hinata has always been nice and friendly to me. Sure, she always acted weird whenever she was around me, but she never once insulted me. And even though Bushy Brows is a bit hard to understand, he's still a nice guy."

"Right, so that leaves you with a testosterone-drunk jerk who constantly insulted and put you down so that he could think that he was the "alpha male", a violent food-addicted fatso that saw as an annoying pest, and lazy know-it-all that always spoke to you as if you were a mindless idiot."

"Okay, now you're just over-exaggerating things! Shikamaru, Kiba, and Choji may have acted like that on a few occasions, but they always hung out with me during my time in the academy. They were my friends!"

"Really? How many times did they invite you to hang out with them after the academy was let out? Did they ever invite you over to their houses? Did they ever take the time to get to know you personally?"

Naruto tried to come up with some sort of rebuttal, but nothing came to him. As he thought back to when he was still attending the academy, he reluctantly realized that the girl was right. The only time that they actually hung out was whenever they were in class. After that, they hardly hung out with each other. Whenever he saw them with their parents, they would ignore him, like he wasn't even there. And when tried to go up to them just to say "hello", their parents would always shoot hateful glares at him or tell him to get lost.

"W-well, they still hung out with me. And just because they don't meet up to _your _standards, doesn't mean that they aren't good enough to be anyone else's friends, let alone mine." argued Naruto.

"Fine, fine. Who am I to say who your friends should be? Besides, with all things considered, they were _way _better than your so-called _teammates _and _sensei_ were."

"Hey! Don't you start insulting my-"

"Don't finish that sentence! What you had was anything _but _a team! In fact, if you were to look up "team" in the antonym section of a thesaurus, your _team_ would be listed!"

"What the hell are you talking about now? My team was one of the best Konohagakure had to offer!" exclaimed Naruto.

The shinigami just scoffed in disbelief. "Tch, if that was your village's best, then I fear for your village's future."

"What was that? I'll have you know that Kakashi Sensei is one of the best ninjas around."

"So? Just because he's a good shinobi doesn't automatically mean that he's a good teacher. Besides, in all of your time with your team, he's done a piss poor job of teaching you."

"That's not true! He was a great teacher!" said Naruto, defensively.

"Oh really, name one time that he personally taught or trained you."

"Well, he taught me the tree walking exercise, and team tactics…" started Naruto.

"Yeah, yeah, that's all good and all, but did he ever take any time to personally teach you, or even offer you any personal pointers? Or what about the Chunin Exams? Did he even try to help you prepare for your match? And when you had important information about Uchiha's opponent during the exam, did he even bother to take you seriously?"

That question had hit Naruto hard; that particular moment was a bitter pill to swallow. The fact that Kakashi had just traded him off to an instructor that had a grudge against him, with only chakra control exercises to work on, still made him resentful of his instructor. How was chakra control exercises going to help him against Neji Hyuga, who was top rookie out of his graduating class? Even though it all worked out for him in the end, it still hurt that Kakashi preferred to train Sasuke over him. Add the fact that he never once took him seriously about the whole Gaara incident just added salt to the wound.

"And don't even get me started on that prick, Sasuke." said the shinigami, as if she were reading the ex-shinobi's mind. "What your village, and nearly all of the women in your old village saw in him, I'll never know. If you ask me, you should have focused on killing that traitor, instead of trying to drag his ass back to your village."

"Hey, Sasuke was one of the few people that I could relate to! He was like the brother I never had!"

This elicited an incredulous laugh from the reaper. "Your _brother_? Your so-called _brother_ spent most of his time belittling you to fuel his own arrogance. He had the entire village eating out of the palm of his hands, and he never _once _showed any gratitude towards them. Not to mention that he stabbed the entire village in the back, just so that he could learn a few high-power techniques from a traitor. And, here's the icing on the cake, he attempted to kill you multiple times, until he finally succeeded. Kami, I know a person's first _love_ is special and makes someone act stupid, but this is-"

"I am _**not **_gay!" interrupted Naruto.

"Really? So, then how do you explain your first kiss during-"

"That was NOT intentional! That was an accident, and nothing more!" exclaimed Naruto, angrily. "I was only starring him down, when some bastard knocked me off balance, and I fell on him! I would have clobbered that jerk who caused that nightmare to happen if I had the chance."

"Okay, okay, I didn't mean it like that. But if Sasuke isn't your lover, then why are you giving him so much leeway, especially when _he _was the one that took your life? Especially, since he has _never _respected you as a comrade since the very first day you started working with your team."

Again, Naruto was at loss for words. Sasuke was never pleasant to be around. No matter how hard he tried and trained, Sasuke always seemed to out do him. And every time he did, the bloody Uchiha seemed to take delight in rubbing it in his face. He always envied how everyone automatically seemed to respect and accept Sasuke, and secretly wished that he could just switch lives with him. That was why he tried desperately to improve himself so that he would no longer be in Sasuke's shadow. Yet, whenever he did manage to surpass Sasuke in some area, the Uchiha became hell-bent to beat him down again or try to one-up him.

"And last but not least, there's that shallow, self-centered, pinky-haired, howler monkey of a bitch." said the shinigami.

"NO! Don't you dare say that about Sakura!"

"Why shouldn't I? She never said anything pleasant about you, so why should I say anything nice about her? But more importantly, why did _you _put up with the abuse for so long?"

"What are you…she never treated me badly!" denied Naruto defensively.

"Is that so? Then what you're saying is that all of those times that she hit you for being nice to her, criticizing her oh-so-precious Sasuke-kun, or for any other reason she found justifiable is a way expressing her affections to you? Wow! I'm so sorry, I had no idea!" replied the girl, sarcasm practically oozing from her voice.

"Sh-shut up! She it wasn't like that at all!" shouted Naruto, a waver easily detected in his voice.

"Oh for the love of…what the hell's the matter with you? Why are you so defensive with this girl when she never once gave you the time of day?" snarked the shinigami, her patience with blonde nearing its limit. "Criminy, just how ignorant are you?

"What the hell are you talking about? I'm not ignorant!" shouted Naruto.

"If you thought that you had a chance with that shallow, pink-haired, flat-chested bitch, then you clearly _**are **_ignorant! The fact that you're still crushing on that selfish brat just shows how much you're lost in your own world! No matter how nice you were to her, and no matter how many times you've asked her out, she _still_ preferred to be shot down by that Uchiha traitor. That right there should have been enough proof for you to realize that the girl was a lost cause!"

"You take that back! You don't know Sakura-chan like I do!"

"I know that she hardly ever contributes to the team when you're out on the mission, and still criticizes you every little thing that you do. I know that she always takes Sasuke's side whenever you have an argument with that prick. And I also know that she becomes incredibly desperate whenever something or _someone _threatens said prick, in which case she does something extremely stupid that would endanger herself and everyone else around her! Why are you so _dead set _on making this girl like you?"

"Because, she went through the same problems that I did when she was still a kid! She didn't have many friends, she was being picked on bullies, and she always felt lonely!"

"So, I take it you tried to help her out?"

Naruto had the decency to blush at that comment, while simultaneously scratching the back of his head. "Well…I _did_ sort get back at those bullies, and I tried to talk to her once, but…"

"Let me guess, she was already hanging around with that other brainless Uchiha-loving cow…uh, what's her name…it had something to do with sows…or was it pigs?…Ino! Yeah, that's it!

Naruto said nothing, his head seemingly focused on the ground. It was all too true. After she became friends with Ino Yamanaka, Sakura's attitude completely changed. She immediately started acting like all of the other girls in the academy.

Since she didn't get a response out of the soul, she interpreted it as an affirmative answer. That only made turn her nose up into the air in disgust. "Heh, that just proves that she was never worth all the time you spent pining over her!"

"Will. You. SHUT UP? You have no right to criticize Sakura-chan like that! She is a lot nicer-"

"SINCE WHEN?" interrupted the reaper, her tolerance for the whiskered blonde finally giving way to her frustration. "Since _when _has your beloved _Sakura-chan_ ever treated you kindly? She never once gave you a chance to actually date you! She _**never **_complemented you whenever you accomplished something she couldn't, she _**never**_ passed up a chance to either hit or insult you, and she was _**never**_ nice to you! Hell, she never even thanked you for saving her _**own life**_; which she automatically assumed was saved by _**Sasuke**_, the ninja that couldn't do _**jack shit **_against that bloodthirsty Suna kid! And if that's not enough for you, she then had the _**gall **_to beg, with tears flowing from her eyes, for you to bring her Sasuke back! She specifically used you to get her _Prince Charming_ back to her, not giving a _**shit **_if you or _**any **_of your teammates came back alive!"

All throughout the reaper's tongue-lashing, Naruto tried frantically to come up with a refute to her argument; anything to stop her from going on. But try as he might, he just couldn't do it. The years of denial and self delusion were finally catching up to him, overwhelming him with a torrent of emotions he had been holding back: confusion, despair, hopelessness, frustration, but most of all, anger. Thirteen years of repressed rage began to flow all over his body, like lava flowing from an erupting volcano. And it wasn't the anger he would usually show around in public, but the deep-seated kind that he felt ever since he was kid. He was angry at the Yondaime Hokage for sealing the Kyubi inside of him. He hated that he was always targeted because of the Kyubi. He was angry that the villagers, shinobi and civilian, never took time to actually get to know him, instead seeing him as the Kyubi reincarnated. He hated that he had work his fingers to the bone just to get the things that his peers often took for granted. He hated that his own teammates used him as fodder for their jokes, and always looked down at him as the lowest standard. And, most importantly, he was angry with himself for letting his life continue to degrade to such a sad state.

The shinigami, oblivious to the internal strife going on in Naruto's mind, continued on with her tirade. "It's time to face facts, bucko. Your sensei was a two-faced, lazy, favorite-playing, hypocrite. Your _brother _was a heartless, arrogant, power-hungry traitor. And you so-called crush was a good-for-nothing, materialistic, talent-less whore who gave kunoichi and women everywhere a bad name!"

"Fuck you…" replied Naruto, in a cold, detached voice.

Now it was the shinigami's turn to appear to be lost for words. Sure, she had heard that phrase hundreds of times before, but she never heard it in that way. The way it sounded made her think of someone that was about to kill her. It took her a moment to realize that it was a freaking _Plus _that said that her. A _freaking __**Plus**_! Already, she felt her resolve not to physically harm the boy in front of her deteriorate at a rapid pace.

"What did you just say to me?" she said in a tone that was promising unimaginable amounts of pain.

"I said…fuck you. Fuck you…you FUCKING SHIN**IGAMI BITCH!**" snarled Naruto, his head shooting up to stare the reaper right in the eyes. The very sight of those eyes elicited a gasp from the reaper, as they were not like those she'd ever seen in a Plus nor a Hollow. The sclera were a deep blood red, while the corneas remained blue. But it was the pupils that started make her uneasy. Instead of the normal circular pattern that she saw in both Pluses and Hollows alike, there were feral slits that sent chills down her spine. But that was nothing compared to the sudden flood of reiatsu flowing off of Naruto in a violent mixture of black and red, which slowly began to condense and take the form of some large animal.

"**YOU FUCKING SHINIGAMI ARE THE REASON WHY MY LIFE WAS SO FUCKED UP! **_**YOUR KIND**_** WERE THE ONES THAT SEALED THE** **KYUBI INTO ME, CURSING ME TO A LIFE OF BEING THE ENTIRE VILLAGE'S SCAPEGOAT! **_**YOUR KIND **_**CAUSED ME TO EXPERIENCE PERPETUAL PREJUDICE AND DISCRIMINATION FOR SOMETHING I HAD NO CONTROL OVER! I HAD TO WORK NONSTOP TO TRY AND SALAVGE THE MANGLED LIFE THAT I WAS GIVEN; CONSTANTLY FIGHTING TOOTH AND NAIL JUST TO BE ACCEPTED AMONGST MY PEERS LIKE A NORMAL PERSON! AND NOW, WHEN I'VE FINALLY MADE SOME LEEWAY INTO IMPROVING MY LIFE, **_**YOU **_**CRITICIZE THE **_**FUCK **_**OUT OF IT, AND TELL ME THAT I HAVE TO LEAVE IT BEHIND? WELL, FUCK YOU! FUCK THE WHOLE LOT OF YOU SHINIGAMI BASTARDS! I **_**KNOW **_**THAT MY LIFE WAS HARSH! I KNOW THAT IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER, BUT IT WAS THE ONLY LIFE THAT I HAD, DAMN IT!**" hollered Naruto, as the reiatsu condensed on itself even further, until the shinigami saw that it resembled a large fox, with huge sharp teeth, and nine long tails that were thrashing around as if they had a mind of their own. The sight was so terrifying that the young shinigami almost didn't notice the soul's chain began to encroach like a school piranhas going on a feeding frenzy on an obese cow. Any second now, the chain would be completely corroded and the boy would turn into a Hollow. And judging by the amount of reiatsu this soul was generating, she _really _didn't want to fight it when it became a Hollow. That, and she would get in a _lot _of trouble with her superiors for provoking a Plus into corrupting itself.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry! I'm sorry for being so blunt; I've had really bad day, and I wasn't in the mood to go on this mission. I didn't mean to I upset you, but I was just trying to help you pass on!" she said, desperate to calm the young boy down.

"**PASS ON? **_**PASS ON**_**? WHY THE FUCK WOULD I WANT TO PASS ON? I WANT MY OLD LIFE BACK!**"

"But I can't do that! It's already too late f-"

"**DON'T GIVE ME THAT SHIT! YOUR KIND CAN SEAL GIANT, MALEVOLENT DEMONS THAT CAN CHANGE THE WORLD'S LANDSCAPES INTO HUMAN BEINGS, AND YOU'RE TELLING ME THAT YOU CAN'T DO SOMETHING AS SIMPLE AS EXTENDING A HUMAN'S LIFE?**"

"I can't do that! Your Chain of Fate has already been severed; the soul can't be returned to the body! You have to let me perform the konso on you, so you can go to the Soul Society!"

"**SOUL SOCIETY? IS THAT WHAT YOU LOT CALL OBLIVION? GIVE ME ONE GOOD REASON WHY I SHOULD EVEN **_**THINK**_** ABOUT ALLOWING YOU TO TAKE ME TO THAT **_**FUCKING **_**PLACE?**" At this point, only about a third of the chain remained.

"Because if you remain here, you will become a Hollow; a monster that feeds on the souls of the living! Once that chain is gone, you will be cursed to an existence of despair, pain, and endless hunger! And considering all that you went through when you were alive, I doubt that you would want to suffer for the rest of eternity!" exclaimed the shinigami.

That tidbit of information was enough for Naruto to subdue his rage, as he collapsed to the ground, the exhaustion finally catching up to him. The overbearing reiatsu started receding until there was nothing left, leaving the Plus hunched over on his hands and knees, his face looking at the ground beneath him, and the Chain of Fate slowly encroaching towards the center of the boy's chest. Seeing that she had little time to accomplish her mission, the shinigami approached the deceased youth once she determined that he would not attack her. But when she got the boy, she noticed his body was trembling, and there were small damp spots on the ground right underneath where his eyes would be. Then she heard the barely contained sobs.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Just hurry up and get it over with! If I'm going to be sent to this _Soul Society_, purgatory, or Hell, just do it and spare me the suspense." choked Naruto.

Feeling a new wave a pity for the young deceased, the reaper gently cupped Naruto's chin her hand and slowly brought his face, which had to tears dripping down his cheeks, up to hers. It was then, Naruto saw the female shinigami's face. It wasn't emotionless or vindictive like he read in the old history books, it was gentle and sympathetic, which made it even more confusing considering how the girl had acted earlier on.

"I never said that you were going to Hell." she said, softly. "The Soul Society isn't as bad as you think it is. It's actually very similar your village. You'll be able to live in peace, with no one judging you for something that you didn't do. It'll be like getting a second chance to live a good life."

"But…but, I'm scared…" said Naruto in barely a whisper. "I'm scared to see what's on the other side. I'm scared that things will be just the same as when I was alive."

The shinigami gave a gentle smile. "It's alright to be afraid. Everyone's afraid when it's their time to go. I know that it's hard to let go, but you'll only be hurting yourself and everyone else if you stayed here."

Naruto became silent once again, this time remembering all of the people that he did care about, and knew truly cared about him as well. He didn't want to leave them all behind, but he didn't want to stay and potentially hurt them. But there was still one nagging thought that kept on bothering him.

"Um, will it hurt at all?" asked Naruto, quietly.

This got a small chuckle from her. "Not at all. It's completely painless, so long as you haven't committed any crimes or sins against nature. And before you ask, that excludes you keeping the Kyubi at bay." With that, she withdrew her katana from the scabbard, causing the blonde boy to flinch. "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you." she said reassuringly, before she switched her blade into a reverse grip.

"Wait! Before you send me away, can you at least tell me your name?" asked Naruto.

The reaper was momentarily surprised by the question; very few souls asked for her name. Perhaps, this particular soul wasn't completely annoying. She quickly regained her composure, and allowed a smirk to form on her face. "Hiyori. My name is Hiyori Sarugaki, lieutenant of the 12th Division." she said in a calm tone. "You know, it's customary for a guy to give a girl his name once she gives you hers."

Naruto just had to smile. "It's Naruto Uzumaki, Monkey Brat." he said, with a smirk of his own. It appeared that his old personality began to resurface.

"You're _so _lucky that I need to get you to the Soul Society." she said, a tick visible on her forehead. She then gentle jabbed Naruto in the forehead with the pommel of her sword, leaving behind an "approved" kanji. Immediately, Naruto felt an overwhelming, calming sensation wash over him as he entire body began to glow with bright blue/white light. Subsequently, Naruto slowly began to sink into the ground, leaving behind a black butterfly that fluttered off to the sky.

Seeing that her task was gone, Hiyori withdrew a cell phone from her pocket, and hit a button in order to contact her superiors. "Yo, it's Sarugaki. Yeah, the Plus has been taken care of." she said. "No, I had gotten to him before any Hollows could get to him. And it was a good thing too, this particular one was able to use reiatsu without even knowing it. Hell, it was even able take a visible form….What it did look like?…I don't know, it kinda looked like some kind of wolf with multiple tails…no, wait, it was a fox. Yeah, yeah, it was a fox. But it had nine tails instead of one….Look, can you just open the gate so I can get home? If you're so interested in this Plus, you can read my report!"

Mere moments after she cut the connection, a large sliding door materialized out of thin air. The door then opened, revealing a blinding white light, yet this did not impede Hiyori from entering through it, before it finally phased out of existence. All that was left was the bleeding body of what used to be one Naruto Uzumaki. Suddenly, it started to rain with increasing intensity, as if Mother Nature was crying for the two young shinobi that had lost their innocence. The scene remained as so for nearly five minutes, before Kakashi and his ninken Pakkun arrived to the scene. Kakashi just stood there, shocked stiff at what he was seeing. He tried to convince himself that the rain was making him see things, but knew that was just wishful thinking on his part. As he slowly approached the body, Pakkun trotted over to the headband that was laying on the ground.

"It's Sasuke's." the dog said after giving it a few sniffs. "His scent is being washed away by the rain. I can't track him anymore."

Kakashi remained silent the entire time, just staring at what used to be his hyperactive student, the "dead-last" of the Academy, the legacy of the Yondaime Hokage. The very sight of Naruto made Kakashi think back to when he first began as the jonin sensei for Team 7. Before he passed the team, he had told his students that he believed that those who broke the rules were trash, but those who abandoned their comrades were lower than trash. But upon retrospect, he realized that he didn't really follow his own teachings. He was lazy when it came to training his students, thinking that he was actually giving them their own space to hone their own skills. And whenever he did take an interest in training with them, he only taught his students teamwork exercises, but never really bothered to stop them whenever they fell apart. To make matters worse, he would constantly spend extra time to help Sasuke after their usual team meetings, but didn't extend the same courtesy to Naruto or Sakura. Heck, he even opted to train Sasuke for the chunin exams over Naruto, and just passed him off to another jonin so that he wouldn't have to worry about it. It spoke volumes as to how he had failed as an instructor, and Naruto paid the ultimate price for his lack of actions.

"Kakashi, what are going to do?" asked Pakkun, as he watched his summoner carefully pick up the body of Naruto into his arms, before he went to retrieve the discarded headband.

"Let's head back home, Pakkun, and report this to the Hokage." he replied solemnly.

"But, what about Sasuke? Are you sure th-"

"I'm sure, Pakkun!" interrupted Kakashi, a bit more sternly than he intended. "Sasuke's already crossed the border, and the rain is washing away his scent. It'll make tracking and finding him nearly impossible."

"Right." was all that the small ninken had to say, before he and Kakashi leapt off towards Konoha. He knew what was going through Kakashi's mind, but decided to just follow his master back home.

Not a minute later, something slowly emerged from the ground. At first glance it looked like a plant that was similar to a Venus fly trap. Except, the "plant" was wearing a black cloak with red clouds, had a head with green hair, as well as arms and legs. But the most noticeable feature of the humanoid plant man was the face. Its head was of two colors meeting at the center of the face; the right side was a dark black, while the left side was white. The odd thing was that only the white side seemed human like, as half of a mouth and the bright yellow eye was visible. The black side, on the other hand looked as if it were devoid of any human characteristics, with the exception of a beady yellow eye that showed no cornea or sclera.

"_**That fucking prick! Looks like you can always trust the runt of the Uchiha clan to screw things up.**_" said a voice that seemed to have originated from the black half.

"Indeed." said different, more calmer, softer voice that seemed to have come from the left side. "The leader will wan to hear of this immediately."

_To Be Continued… _

**1 **

**Well, there's the first chapter. Now, as a warning to you readers, this is the first time that I've written anything for BLEACH. So, if I happened to get describe a character incorrectly, or get one of the technical terms wrong, feel free to let me know in a review or PM. Also, I now have a deviantART account, which I will post the address to my profile, but I'm more of an art collector than an actual artist. Anyways, I'm still looking for artists that specialize in anime and TRANSFORMERS style. If anyone is interested, just give me a PM. Next chapter, we see how Naruto's death affects everyone. T.T.F.N.! **


	2. A Meeting That Changed Everything

**Second Chances**

**Hey everyone! Sorry that there hasn't been an update for this story in a while, but I was going through some personal troubles. Not to mention that I was working during my travels throughout Europe. And if that wasn't enough, a European computer virus trashed my files! So yeah, talk about major frustration. Just to get it out and in the open, I own nothing! If I did, Sasuke Uchiha wouldn't be alive, and Naruto wouldn't be so naïve and under-powered. **

'_Blah'_- inner thoughts

"Blah"** -** talking

'_**Blah' **_- demon/monster speaking

"**Blah" -** jutsu being performed

"**BLAH"** - really angry yelling

**#**- scene change

**22 **

**Chapter 2: A Meeting that Changed Everything **

_Konoha Hospital _

The medical staff was all abuzz when the members of the Uchiha Retrieval team were brought back. Whilst Shikamaru and Kiba's injuries weren't serious, Neji and Choji needed immediate attention. The Akimichi heir's body was dangerously atrophied, and was suffering the side effects of using his clan's special brand of soldier rations pellets, the Three Colored Pills. Neji, on the other hand, had multiple stab wounds, as well as two gaping holes that were caused by his opponent's high-powered arrows. Even though the hospital had Tsunade and Shizune's medical expertise to help them, the severity of the wounds still kept them busy. Kiba and his partner, Akamaru, weren't in life-threatening danger, but they were going to be out of commission for a while. Surprisingly, Shikamaru had only a few scraps and bruises, a broken finger, and mild chakra exhaustion to show for his part in the mission, and was thus treated fairly quickly. Rock Lee, a newly-healed ninja that had volunteered his services to the team, was just suffering from some pulled muscles and exhaustion.

Currently, the young Nara was sitting in the corridor that branched off to the two operating rooms that Neji and Choji were currently occupying. Across from him was Temari, one of the three shinobi from Sunagakure that answered the Hokage's request for back-up. It was thanks to her team that Kiba, Lee, and himself managed to make it back without receiving any more grievous injuries. But, that wasn't what troubled Shikamaru. From the moment he reached the hospital, his mind had been replaying everything that went wrong on the mission. He had known that it was going to be troublesome, but he had never expected _this_ much trouble. The ninja that had escorted Sasuke to Otogakure were something else, almost like something out of a horror movie. Every time one his comrades stayed to fight a Oto nin so that the team could continue their pursuit, he couldn't stop himself from thinking that he had sent one of his friends to their death. After Choji and Neji had stayed behind, and they had managed to successfully get Sasuke away from his escort team, he briefly thought they had a sliver of a chance at succeeding. But it all went downhill when Kiba and Akamaru got caught in the explosion from the explosive note that they had planted to cover their escape. They weren't hurt by the explosion, but the shock wave had thrown them, and the lipstick-wearing Oto nin over the ravine. Subsequently, _another _Oto nin came out of no where, and had re-acquired Sasuke before running back towards the the borderline. Realizing that Naruto's abilities were more adept for combat, he acted as a diversion so that Naruto could continue on.

The battle from then on in was by no means a walk in the park for him. The kunoichi was just as fierce and bloodthirsty as were all the rest of the Oto nin that he had encountered. Yet where as her teammates specialized in brute strength and heavy-hitting jutsu, she relied on strategy, genjutsu, as well as a trio of blind ogre-like monsters to fight. The fight had forced to him to use every trick that he knew, but it still wasn't enough to fully incapacitate her. But when it looked as if he was going to die, that troublesome fan-wielding kunoichi came out of nowhere, and literally blew the enemy away with ease. It wasn't that he was ungrateful for Temari's help, but her fashion of dealing with her opponent strongly reminded her of his mother.

"Hey, pineapple head, stop brooding over what happened out on the field."

And apparently, she had the same mind reading powers as well.

"What was that?" asked Shikamaru.

"I said, stop wasting time brooding over what happened during the mission." Temari repeated. "From what I heard, you and your friends were in way over your heads."

"Right from the very start." agreed Shikamaru. "I knew all along that we were going against ninja that were on a whole different level than all of us. And yet, I still sent my comrades, guys that I knew as a little kid, to fight enemies that I knew they had no chance of defeating. They were living people, each with their own personalities, hopes, and dreams, and I treated them like pawns in a shogi game."

"Well, that's one way of putting it. But, like it or not, that's what leaders sometimes have to do. Caring about the welfare of your team is fine and all, but there are some cases where the completion of the mission takes priority over everything else." said Temari, as she crossed her legs.

Shikamaru just stood up with a "hmph" and started to make his way out of the waiting room, confusing Temari. "Hey, what do you think you're doing?"

"Going to resign as a shinobi. There's no way I can deal all of the stress and responsibilities of this rank. Hell, I didn't even _want_ to be a chunin in the first place. And given how badly this mission went, I doubt that I'll be able to remain a chunin for much longer. It's just too troublesome to deal with." said Shikamaru, as he began to walk off.

Temari responded in kind with an unladylike like snort. "Never took you for such a crybaby. Sure, I knew that you were a quitter, but I thought that you would at least be man enough to weather out being a chunin for a while, before you decide that you're not ready for the responsibilities." she said, hoping to get the young Nara to make a comeback or for his personality to revert back to when he was fighting against her during the chunin exams.

"Well, I guess I'm not the person that you thought I was. Sorry to disappoint you, but that's life; it's full of disappointments." retorted Shikamaru, not raising to the Suna kunoichi's barb, his tone sounding defeated. The greenhorn chunin continued on his way towards the shinobi registry building. He was just passing by a hallway intersection when he saw his father leaning against the wall that was perpendicular to the path that he was taking.

"Are ya just gonna let a girl talk down to you like that?" he drawled, his eyes still closed. "I guess you're not really a man after all."

That made Shikamaru stop in his tracks. He didn't expect his father to be there, nor did he expect him to be listening in on his chat with Temari. "It's too troublesome to deal with right now. And besides, I'm still a kid, so I don't really have to worry about acting unmanly."

"Yes, you can't really call yourself a man, not with your current attitude. You think that just because your first mission as a chunin failed, that gives you the right to just walk away from everything? Your comrades trusted you to lead them to the best of your abilities. They already knew of the dangers they were going to encounter when they left the village gates. They were aware of the risks that they would likely encounter in the mission, yet they still followed you. And here you are, griping about how everything went wrong, as if you get the right to say that they fought a battle that wasn't important. Did you you even stop to think what your comrades' reaction would be if they found out that you want quit after one failed mission? Are you going to let all of their hard work and sacrifices be for nothing? Well?"

Shikamaru just stood there, silent and unresponsive. His normally laid-back father's words had struck a chord within him, making him actually reconsider his decision. If Kiba and Naruto were to catch wind of his decision to withdraw from active service, they would have never let him hear the end of it. But at the same time, he couldn't in good conscious continue on as shinobi knowing that he was responsible for Neji and Choji's critical injuries. If they were crippled for the rest of their lives, or even worse died from their wounds, how could he possibly lead anyone else?

Just then, the door to Choji's operation room opened. Shikamaru whirled around to see Tsunade walking out. As if she could sense what was going on in the young Nara's mind, she sent him a comforting smile. "There's nothing to worry about anymore. Choji Akimichi is going to be alright." she said reassuringly, as she took a seat on the bench. "He was in critical condition, but we were able stop the side effects of the Akimichi's Three Colored Pills, thanks to the deer antlers that your clan provided, Shikaku."

"Heh, it's always a pleasure to help the village, whether it's out in the field or in the hospital, Lady Hokage." replied Shikaku coolly. He then took a quick glance towards his son, whom he could see was in what was akin to shock that his best friend was really going to be alright. Judging from his earlier behavior, Shikaku could tell that Shikamaru was expecting the worst possible outcome.

Suddenly, the door to the operation room where Neji was held opened, and out walked Shizune. She was panting slightly, and the lights showed that she had sweat collecting on her brow, but she looked triumphant nonetheless. "Neji Hyuga's operation is a success. The fatal injuries have been treated, and he is no longer in critical condition. But, he'll need to be out of active duty in order to properly heal."

Shikamaru just stood there, silently taking in all of the status reports of the heavily injured members of his squad. From what he had seen when he got back to the hospital, Choji and Neji's injuries were fatal and that their deaths were imminent. Yet, by some miracle, they managed to survive. Shikamaru tried to remain optimistic that everything was going to turn out alright, yet there was still one lingering dreadful outcome that constantly pestered him to no end.

"Is there any word of Naruto?" asked Tsunade, masking her worry with the calm facade that she used in public.

Shizune was about to answer her mentor, when one of the medic nins that were sent to retrieve fallen shinobi approached the group.

"Lady Hokage," he said, immediately gaining the attention of everybody present. "Jonin Kakashi Hatake has just returned. He's brought back the body of genin Naruto Uzumaki." he continued solemnly. The room became swiftly silent, as everyone tried to comprehend what had been ceremoniously dropped on their laps.

"His...his body?" started Temari. "Are...are you saying that-"

"Naruto Uzumaki is dead." continued the medic. "From what I gathered, the fatal wounds on Uzumaki are consistent to those that the Chidori are known to make. Hatake has confirmed this theory, has also stated that it was Sasuke Uchiha who performed the jutsu."

No one dared to utter a single word. It was just too absurd to accept what they had just heard. It was like they had just heard that the entire world was going to blow up in the next twenty-four hours. Despite her shock, Shizune turned to see what her mentor's own reaction would be, knowing that the older woman had started to see the younger blonde as a surrogate son. As she gazed upon the Hokage, even though it seemed as Tsunade was calm and serious, the young medic nin could tell that the news was tearing her up inside. She didn't know what do, or what to say next.

"Lady Tsu-"

"Shizune," said the Hokage, suddenly cutting off her apprentice, "I want you to stay here and supervise the medical teams in charge of the two genins's treatment. Alert me if there are _any _signs of trouble. We already lost one shinobi from this damn mission, I will not lose any more of our soldiers." And before Shizune could say anything, Tsunade left accompanied by the medic nin to see Kakashi for his report, and to examine Naruto's body as proper protocol stated for any Leaf shinobi that died on a mission.

With the Hokage gone, the room was filled with a tense silence, with no one daring to utter a word. The quiet atmosphere, however, was abruptly interrupted when Shikamaru fell to his knees, before leaning forwards and landing on his hands. His bod trembled as he held back the sobs that were trying to come out. He knew that it was unmanly to be seen crying in front of everyone, and that a shinobi should have better control over his emotions, yet he was unable to stop the tears that started to leak from his clenched eyes. The cold hard fact the once hyperactive loud blonde was now no longer alive. That his old classmate, his fellow member of the "Four Losers", his comrade, was _dead_.

"This is all my fault." he said in a strained voice. "I've barely been a chunin for a whole month, and I've already gotten one of my teammates killed, and on my first mission as leader too!" said Shikamaru, his emotions in upheaval, despite his clipped tone.

Temari, in a rare instance of benevolence, dropped down next to the distraught Nara, and embraced him in a gentle hug. "It's not your fault." she said, her voice low enough so only he could hear it. "You and your friends were up against shinobi that could easily take down two veteran jonin without sustaining injuries. Newly promoted chunin are never expected to be ready for those sorts of missions; you did the best you could."

"Yeah, but my_ best_ wasn't good enough to make sure everyone survived. As leader, it was my duty to see that my teammates made it out alive, regardless of the mission. Yet, I can't even do that right! If only I tried harder, if only I hadn't separated the team, then maybe we could have...we could have..." Shikamaru struggled to finish his line of thought, all the while trying to restrict the amount of tears that were already trailing down his cheeks. Temari said nothing, as she tightened her arms around him. Despite her normal harsh and abrasive attitude that she sported whenever she was out in the field, she herself knew that there was nothing more saddening than losing a comrade that you had known throughout your childhood, and decided not to taunt him for his lapse in composure. Especially since said comrade was the one kid that had single-highhandedly defeated her youngest brother, and helped him change for the better.

Shikaku said nothing as he watched the interaction between his son and the Suna kunoichi from afar. Whilst he didn't show it, he too felt remorse for what his son was going through. He knew that Shikamaru would have had to deal with one his comrades dying sometime during his time a shinobi, but he had hoped that it wouldn't have been so soon, preferably when he had a few years of experience under his belt. As for Naruto's death, well, he didn't know what to think. Even though he didn't actively despise the boy for what he contained, he did try to keep his son's interaction with him as minimum as he could in order to protect him from the civilians and other shinobi. He could tell that things were starting to look up for the jinchuriki, as he watched how blonde was slowly gaining trust amongst the populace. But as the Jonin Commander for his village, he realized that Naruto's death would be seen as a sign of vulnerability with their only jinchuriki gone. Their enemies might even see it as the right chance to strike and futher weaken their village.

Shizune, on the other hand, just made her way to Choji's room, a lone tear sliding down her cheek. She couldn't stand being in the waiting room, so she decided do what her master instructed her to do, hoping that it would distract her from the fate of the boy she had started to see as a little brother.

**22 **

_With Naruto, Unknown Location_

The very first thing that Naruto noticed once he had regained his bearings was that he was staring up at a bleary gray sky. The second thing was that he laying flat on his back on the hard, unforgiving surface of the earthen ground. As he slowly sat up, he saw that he was laying in the middle of the street to some city that he was unfamiliar with. The designs of the buildings were familiar to some of the buildings that he had seen around Konoha, only they seemed a bit more worn down than the ones he was used to. Some of them looked as if they were about to be demolished, if the broken windows and weathered walls were anything to go by. Looking around himself, Naruto saw a few shops set up on both sides of the street, selling products ranging from food and clothes, to jewelry and other trinkets that Naruto never truly cared about. A few people walked past him, going past him in both directions, some were dressed in normal clothes while others were wearing what looked to be rags. It wasn't until a passerby's shoulder nudged into him that Naruto realized his surroundings weren't the only things that had changed since he had been whisked away from the land of the living.

Gone was his ruined and battered orange jumpsuit, and in its place was an ordinary white kimono, with his shuriken and kunai holster still strapped to his right thigh. And instead of his normal blue shinobi sandals, he saw that he had on a pair of zori sandals complete with a pair of white tabi socks.

'_Okay, this is just weird._' thought Naruto, as he moved around to get a better feel for the strange clothes he was now wearing. '_I'm pretty sure that Monkey Brat didn't mention automatically getting new clothes when you get into Soul Society. And I had expected Soul Society to a bit nicer than this! Everything looks so run down here, almost like the Land of Waves when Gato was still in control._'

Looking around, he saw that there was hardly any people up and about; it was as if he was stuck in a ghost town. Figuring that had nothing to lose, Naruto went up to the merchant that was managing a jewelry stand close to where he was standing, thinking that the man would have some idea where he was. As he got closer, he saw that the man in question had a drastically receding hairline, and a large gut.

"Um, excuse me, sir." he started. "Um, hi, I'm a bit lost and I w-"

"Piss off, cretin!" interrupted the man. "I don't associate myself with new arrivals like you."

Naruto was momentarily stunned at the outright rudeness of the man. He didn't even know the guy, yet he was being treated as if he had egged his house. "I'm...sorry, is there something wrong?" the blonde asked.

"Yeah, there _is_ something wrong." the man sneered. "_You're_ holding up business just by standing there. I'm trying to make a profit so that I don't have to move out of my apartment, and I'm not going to be able to sell my wares if some penniless new arrival like you keeps looking around. Now unless you're going to buy something, the I suggest that you get the fuck out of here!"

"But, I just need directions!" said Naruto. "All I want to know is-"

"Hey, street rat! Get out of the way!" shouted a new voice from behind him. Turning around, he saw a gaudy-looking woman that was wearing a heavy amount of make-up, and had wrinkles around her eyes. She was wearing a faded and wrinkled gown and a dirty feather boa. Behind her, were two other women that were dressed in a similar fashion, yet seemed a few years older than the woman in front of them.

"Are you deaf, you stupid fool? Get out of our way! Honestly, high class socialites such as ourselves should _not_ have to deal with low-brow trash such like you." she said in a haughty tone before she whipped open a fan and began to fan herself, her followers copying her a second later.

"What did you just say to me, you ugly hag?" snarled Naruto, his patience already dangerously close to breaking. All he wanted was some damned directions. He had only just arrived to this...Soul Society...or whatever this place was called, and yet he was already beginning to feel like he was still in Konoha.

"How _dare _you speak to us in such a manner!" the lead woman shrieked. "You have no right to even be seen by us, let alone talk to us! Now get out of here, before I call the authorities to do away with you!" she said smugly. Naruto was sorely tempted to open a can of _whoop-ass_ on the pompous woman before him; just they way she spoke to him made him want to hurt her. Badly. Yet, his conscious kept nagging at him that doing so would just cause more problems for him in the long run. Not to mention that he was completely new to this area, and there was the off chance that the woman before him, no matter how unpleasant, actually _had_ the power to order the authoritative figures to arrest him. So, with great reluctance, Naruto just merely walked away from the merchant and trio of unattractive ladies, having to use every ounce of self restraint not to attack them when he saw the smug looks they were sending him.

"Yes, that's right. Go back to whatever dump you crawled out of." she said, her voice full or arrogance and self-importance.

_'I'll remember this, you old, wrinkly bitch._' thought Naruto darkly. Already feeling distrustful towards the people...souls...whatever they were, the blonde decided that he would be better off wandering aimlessly down the street, trying to find out where exactly he was by himself. He did NOT die just to be placed in an afterlife similar to the life he previously had.

**22 **

_Some Time Later_

'_Okay, so maybe going off on my own without asking anyone where I am wasn't my brightest idea._' thought Naruto, as he looked around the now seemingly abandoned area. He had been wandering for some time, and was _still_ oblivious as to where he was. He had reckoned that along the way, he would've found something or someone that could tell him where exactly he was. But, as luck would have it for the blonde, he came up with zilch. And the people that he _did_ ask for help where either too busy to notice him, or were only willing to give him information that didn't really explain anything to him. So far, he had learned that he was in Rukonagi, more specifically District #64, The North Alley of Wandering Spirits.

'_Well isn't that ironic? I'm blindly meandering about in a district that's named after _Wandering Spirits._ And where the hell is Rukonagi? I thought that I was supposed to be sent to Soul Society, not the district for lost spirits! Man, I've been dead for barely a day, and I've already been royally screwed over! I should have known better than to trust that Shinigami bitch, Monkey Brat! I should have just kicked her in t-_' Naruto's inner raging was cut short when he saw something that he had seen several times before in his life, and had even experienced it a couple of times himself.

There in front of him, was girl that was about the same age as he was. She had strawberry blonde hair that came down to her neck. But what really got Naruto's attention was the dirty and torn clothing she was wearing. To make matters worse, it looked as if she was in serious pain judging on how she was swaying from side to side as she moved at a snail's pace and clutching at her stomach, as if it were taking every ounce of her strength to just walk. What was the final straw for Naruto was when he saw her finally collapse to the ground, yet _none_ of the people passing by didn't even stop to see if she was alright. They just continued on their way, as if what had happened was commonplace.

Without wasting a beat, Naruto rushed over to the girl laying on the ground, already fearing the worst. All thoughts of finding out where he was were put on hold, as he concentrated on examining the girl for any severe injuries. After a brief search turned up nothing, Naruto carefully turned her over so that he could see the girl's face. But as he finally got a look her visage, he was met with a pair of pale, sky blue eyes staring back at him with almost no life to them. The dirt smudges that adorned her face hinted that she had lived at a severely impoverished state for a while.

"Hey! Hey, kid! Are you alright? Come on, speak to me!" asked Naruto, as he gently nudged the girl, hoping that she could somehow respond to him. He had felt something akin to a pulse from her earlier, but he was still afraid that the girl's condition could worsen. Thankfully, it looked like the mysterious girl was still alive, as her eyes locked onto his. Her lips made miniscule movements, as if she were trying to tell him something, but Naruto couldn't hear anything.

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch that. What did you say?" he said, while placing his ear closer to her mouth, in hopes that he could hear whatever she was saying and get some sort of clue as to what was ailing her.

"...Ung...ry...so...hungry..." she rasped in a pitiful tone.

Just hearing those words made Naruto feel as if someone had grabbed onto his heart with their bare hands and crushed it. Having experienced the horrible sensation on multiple occasions whilst he was alive, Naruto knew all to well how much pain the girl was in. But that thought alone just brought up more questions: Did souls really need to eat? Were there animals that could be hunted for food? Could he even _taste_ food? And was there any place that served ramen?

'_No, no, no! Stay focused, damn it! You have an emergency here!'_ Naruto mentally berated himself. Quickly regaining his senses, Naruto quickly glanced about to get a better grasp of his surroundings. He noticed that up ahead of him to his left, was a large section thriving with several trees and shrubbery which he assumed was a park of some sort. Gingerly picking the girl up, Naruto quickly made his way towards the area, looking for a safe and secluded spot. Seeing an old tree that was in the corner of the shrub-fence that boxed in the entire park, Naruto carefully placed the girl down and propped her against the tree. He then crouched down so that he was at eye level with her.

"Alright, I have go away for a while." he said calmly.

"What? But, why?" the girl asked, frantically, "Please, d-"

"I didn't say that I was leaving for good." he said, placating. "I'm just going out to get some food and medical supplies, alright? So I need you to stay here, and wait until I come back, okay? Can you do that for me?"

The girl just looked up at him desperately, her eyes slowly glistening, as if she were seeing him for the last time. It made him think that she had experienced something like this before.

"Look, I promise you that won't leave you behind. I give you my word that I _will_ come back for you. If there's one thing about me that's always absolute is that I never go back on my word." he said looking her in the eye with a serious expression. He had to hold back the flinch as he remembered about how he had ended up in this place. His words had the desired result though, as the girl no longer looked as if she were about to cry. Yet, he could still see some doubt in her eyes. She stared intently at him for what seemed like ages until she raised her right fist with her pinky finger extended.

"Pinky promise?" she asked.

Naruto just smiled, as he hooked his own pinky finger with hers. "Pinky promise." he answered, confidently. "Now I really have to go, before all of the good stuff is gone. But I'll be back, I promise!" he said before he dashed out back onto the main street. As he ran he couldn't help but wonder why he had brought up his old nindo. The very fact that he had failed to uphold his own way of the ninja made him feel ashamed of himself, especially since he had used it to calm the poor girl down. To him, it was as if he had lied to her, which made him feel even worse. How could he have made such a promise to a girl he had just met when he couldn't even fulfill the important promises he made to his teammate?

'_Hell, what right do I have to keep my nindo at all, since I failed Sakura-chan?'_ he thought, grimly, before schooling his face to a serious expression. '_But I don't have time to mope and feel sorry for myself. I made a promise to someone that truly needs my help. I can't afford to let her down! She's been without food for far too long; I have to-_' At that point, Naruto felt like kicking himself for not thinking things through. In his rush to help the girl, he had forgotten that he lacked one important necessity: money, the very thing that "_makes the world turn 'round_" as some had put it.

Naruto couldn't believe how he had forgotten something so crucial. How was he even going to get anything without any money? He knew for a fact that he didn't have a single cent on him when he passed on to Rukonagi. And he was definitely sure that the mysterious girl didn't have any on her either, otherwise she wouldn't have been in her current condition. Just as Naruto was about start mentally beating himself up for not thinking things through yet again, he sudden realized that he was already in one of the open market sections that mainly sold food, clothes, medicine, and other necessities. Reckoning that he just didn't pay attention to where he was going, he stared longingly at the products that were so close and yet so far from him. Judging by the appearances of the vendors, the former shinobi surmised that they wouldn't be too keen towards charitable donations for children in need. But seeing as he was pressed for time, and had no way of paying for what he needed, Naruto had to accept that his only other option was to steal whatever he needed. He knew that he was capable of pulling it off, but it was all a matter of timing, having the right tools available, and being able to have an effective distraction. His training had prepared him for dealing with a situation like this, and he was lucky that he still had his shuriken/kunai holster with him. Now, all he needed was someone to use as a distraction and possibly to pin the blame on.

Naruto darted into a nearby alley, and began to look for a possible stool pigeon for him to use. Despite the fact that there were a lot more people up and about than he last recalled, he saw no one that really stood out and could draw the attention away from him properly. That is, until he saw a disturbance approaching the stands that he was targeting. His eyes widened once he had gotten a decent glance at what exactly was causing the ruckus.

'_Oh, this is just perfect!_' he thought gleefully as he got a devious look on his face.

**22 **

_Back At The Park_

The girl waited patiently by the tree that the blonde boy had placed her by. She had nothing to do, except sit under the tree, and try to keep her mind off of her growling and gurgling stomach. She didn't know how she had gotten in her current predicament, or for that matter, why that strange whiskered boy was helping her. Sure, she was grateful that someone was willing to help her when everyone else just turned their nose up and passed by, but she was suspicious as to why he would even bother helping her. Naturally, all of her time living on her own had made her suspicious of others, so she couldn't understand why he wanted to help her. But what really confused her was how she ended up nearly starving to death; she had never been that bad off before. At least, that's what she thought. Frankly, she couldn't figure out how exactly she got like this. She knew that she lived on her own, and that she was looking for a place to sleep. The last thing that she remembered before passing out was bumping into some man dressed in white before she felt something collide against the back of her head. When she regained consciousness, she was lying on the ground with no clue as to where she was going, and feeling exhausted. And thus, she began to wander around District 64, hoping that she would come across something that would help regain her memories. But all that she had accomplished was nearly dying of starvation, and yet coming closer to finding out what happened.

"Hey, I'm back! Sorry to keep you waiting!"

Recognizing the voice from that mysterious boy, the girl was brought out of her musings to see a sight that she couldn't believe. The boy had returned, heavily laden with loaves of bread, fruits, sandwich meats, sliced cheese, vegetables, bottles of water, bandages, healing ointments, two blankets, and other necessities. She was rendered speechless, trying to comprehend how he had managed to steal so much without getting caught.

Naruto, on the other hand, took her silence as a negative reaction. "Is this not enough? Because, if you want more, I can always-"

"What? No, no, no, no! That's alright! This is more than enough!" the girl said, before Naruto went off again. "I'm just surprised that you've brought back so much, that's all. How did you manage to sneak away with all of this anyway?"

Naruto's eyes darted the right, as he recalled how he had pulled the hit off.

**22 **

_Back At The Open Market _

"Let go of me! Let go of me this instant, you filthy pigs!" screeched the gaudy-looking from before, as she and her two friends were being hauled off by the three shinigami that were assigned to patrol the district that day. "Do you have any idea of who we are?"

"Yeah, we do. You and friends are the main suspects for the robberies that occurred at two major stands." replied the patrolling shinigami testily.

"Us? Thieves! That's absolutely absurd! We would never do something so dastardly; it is completely beneath us!" she shouted.

"Oh, really? Then would you mind explaining to me what you all were doing at the scene of the crime? Or for that matter, why we found stolen merchandise from the stands in question, as well as the weapons that was used in the robberies on all three of you, hm?" said the shinigami, as he held up two plastic evidence bags containing a roll of bandages and two of the several four-pointed stars that were found at the scene of the crime.

The woman's eyes widened at seeing the objects. "B-b-but, that's impossible! Those aren't mine! I've never se-"

"'_Never seen them in my entire life!_'? HA! If I had a yen for every time I've heard that excuse, my division wouldn't be tasked with guarding the North Alley of Wandering Spirits! Now, come on! We've got a cell back at the station with you and your friends' names on it." he said, as he and his partners dragged the three suspects back to the detainment center, the women all the while struggling and ranting about how they were framed or how they didn't deserve to treated like commoners.

**22 **

_At The Park _

"Uhh, let's just say that I had some help from a few people that I met earlier." said Naruto lamely, as he placed all of the food he had gotten on a blanket that he had placed on the ground. "Well go ahead, dig in! You look like you haven't eaten in a year."

The girl didn't need to be told twice, as she all but dived into the the mass of food that Naruto had brought back. She quickly grabbed an apple and took a large bite out of it, practically trembling in delight at finally having something edible to eat.

"Oh, thank you! Thank you so much! You've truly saved my life!" she said euphorically, as she then grabbed a pear and began to take alternating bites from the fruits. It wasn't long until they were reduced to cores, before she went to grab two more apples to to eat. Naruto just sat there and watched the girl go to town on the fruits, vegetables and an entire baguette that was in front of her. He was happy to have helped her, but just seeing her eat so ravenously made him feel sorry for her.

'_This girl_' he thought sadly, '_she really has been without food for a while. But what is she doing out here all alone? Shouldn't her parents be taking care of her?_' A sudden growling sound from his stomach brought a small blush to his face. Apparently the hit had taken a lot more out of him than he had thought. He just hoped that she didn't take any notice.

The girl, however, did take notice, as she was just about to devour another apple, when she heard a familiar gurgling sound that didn't come from her own stomach for once. Realizing just where the sound came from, she offered the apple that she was about to eat to the only person that ever bothered to help her.

"Uh, no thanks. I'll be alright. Besides, you need this more than I do. I can go for a while without eating." said Naruto sheepishly. He didn't want to actually take any of the food that he had gotten for her, and hoped that she would just take his word for it. The girl didn't buy into his act, as she thrust the apple closer to him, giving him a dead serious look.

"Oh, alright. If you insist." said Naruto, as he accepted the offered fruit from the girl. Her expression brightened after that.

"It wouldn't be right if you just sat there and watched me eat after everything that you've gone through to get all of this. Besides, I know how painful it is to go without food, so I wouldn't want you to go through the same experience. So help yourself, it's your food too." she said sweetly, a small smile adorning her face. Naruto couldn't help smile as well. As he took a bite out of the apple, he had to agree with Teuchi and Ayame; people were more pleasant with a full stomach.

"Oh, by the way, I don't think we've introduced ourselves." he said in between bites. "The name's Naruto Uzumaki, what's yours?"

The girl swallowed the piece of bread that she was currently chewing. "I'm Rangiku Matsumoto. It's nice to meet you, Naruto-kun." she answered with that same cute smile. "You're a really nice person, but I don't think that I've ever seen you around here before. Why is that, Naruto-kun?"

Naurto's demeanor darkened at Rangiku's question. "Well,... to tell you the truth,...the reason that you've just met me is because I've just recently died, Rangiku-chan." he said, sadly.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, I didn't know! I didn't mean to bring it up!" said Rangiku, immediately regretting asking her question.

"No, it's okay, Rangiku-chan. You didn't know about it. Even though I've only been dead for a short while, I'm beginning to adjust." replied Naruto, soothingly. "I just wish that damn shinigami didn't lie to me."

"Lie to you? Why would a shinigami lie to you?"

"She claimed that I had to let her send me to the Soul Society, or otherwise I would turn into a horrible monster if I had remained in the land of the living. But when I'd let her do the '_konso_' thing, I ended up in some place called Rukonagi District 64 instead of the Soul Society. I can´t believe I listened to that liar!"

Rangiku looked on, confused. "But, Naruto-kun, you _are _in Soul Society."

"What?"

"I said that you are in Soul Society. Rukonagi _is_ apart of the Soul Society; it's where a majority of the souls live."

But...but if this is where you go after you die, then why does this district look so beaten up? Do all souls end up here when they pass on?" asked Naruto.

Rangiku shook her head. "Not all of them, Naruto-kun. Usually it's just a matter of chance. You see, Rukonagi is divided into 320 districts, with 80 districts for each cardinal direction: North, East, South, and West. As the number of the districts increase, the standard of living decreases. District 1's, like Junrinan of West Rukonagi, is considered to be the most luxurious place to live, where the streets are clean, the food is exquisite, and there is never any crime. District 80's like North Zaraki, on the other hand, is known to be worst place to live imaginable. It's used as a hide-out for criminals, and the living conditions are almost non-existent. But the most important part of Soul Society is surrounded by all 320 districts, Seiretei. It is at Seiretei where the shinigami reside."

"So...what you're saying...is that since we're currently in District 64,...we're basically living in something similar to a civilized ghetto?" asked Naruto disbelievingly.

"Well, I wouldn't exactly call it a ghetto. But, yes, this district is one of the more poorer ones."

Naruto became silent, his face taking on a deadpan expression. Rangiku was caught off guard by the sudden change in emotions, it just didn't seem right for someone so bright and cheerful to be so cold and distant looking. She thought that Naruto must have been really upset about something, and was just about to ask what was wrong when Naruto broke the silence.

"That damned Monkey Brat."

Now that threw her for a loop. "Monkey...Brat?" she asked.

Naruto just looked at her, blushing out of embarrassment for speaking his personal thoughts. "Oh, sorry about that. It's just a nickname for the shinigami that brought me here. I remember that her last name was Sarugaki; it literally means monkey brat! I'd be surprised if no one has ever called her that before." said Naruto mirthfully, as he laughed along with Rangiku.

**22 **

_With Hiyori Sarugaki _

The lieutenant of the 12th Division was just cleaning her sword off after she had just killed yet another hollow that plagued the sector she was supposed to be patrolling. She was in a bad mood when she was sent out after sending that annoying blonde ninja to the Soul Society, and had used the hollows that were there as a way to vent out her frustrations She was just about to phone for a portal back to Seiretei, when she felt an odd sensation at the back of her head. It was similar to the one she got when ever her captain was making fun of her height, yet there was a slight variation to it. It was if someone _else_ was making fun of her for an entirely different yet _equally_ humiliating reason. And she had felt it plaguing her for a while now.

"So, another smart ass thinks he can get away with making fun of me, eh?" she said to herself, her eye brow twitching all the while. "I swear, when I find that smug bastard, I'm gonna beat him into a bloody pulp in the most painful ways imaginable!"

**22 **

_Back at North District 64_

"Anyways, I was meaning to ask you before, but why exactly were you out on your own?" asked Naruto.

This time it was Rangiku's turn to look downtrodden. "I'm...not exactly sure myself. Aside from my name, the fact that I've been living on my own, and that I have no place to call home, I can't remember anything." she said, sadly. Naruto immediately felt stupid for not being more tactful on what was appropriate to say around girls, specifically one that looked as if she went through a rough time.

"It's so frustrating!"she said suddenly, as she threw her hands to the ground, her gaze focused on where her hands were. "I've been trying all this time to try and regain my memories, and yet nothing's come back to me! I've been wandering around without a clue as to where I was going, hoping that I would be able to find something or someone to help me remember. But all that did was nearly kill me; everyone that I approached for help just dismissed me or treated me as if I were a parasite! I don't care if I was the daughter of a rich family, if I was abandoned at birth, or if I had any friends, all I want is to remember just who I am!" she wailed, as her frame began to shudder, tears slowly dripping to the ground. "Do you have any idea on what it's like to go on living not knowing if there's anyone out there at actually cares about? To have people blatantly ignore you when you need help? To know that everyone around you doesn't care if you live or die?" At this point, the she didn't bother to hold back the silent tears. She was just too tired of keeping everything bottled up. Besides, it wasn't like Naruto was going to stay now that he had fulfilled his promise to her. Everyone wanted as little to do with her, and she was sure that he would be no exception. After all, who would want to be around an amnesic nobody like her?

So she was very surprised when she felt his arms wrap around herself and pull her to her into large embrace. Her face shot up to meet Naruto's to ask him why he was wasting her time with her, only to be shocked to see a few tears sliding down his cheeks.

"I know all to well what you've been through, Rangiku-chan." said Naruto, remorsefully. "Feeling like there's no point to your life, seeing strangers glare and sneer at you whenever you walk by; I've experienced the same thing from when I was born to the day I died. I've had people who I thought were my friends belittle me everyday just because everyone else was doing it. I grew up experiencing hatred and hostility from everyone in my old village, just for existing. And I know that the worst part about being alone is not having someone to depend on; someone to comfort you when you're feeling depressed." Rangiku's eyes widened at how thoroughly the boy hugging her described what she went through with such detail. She gazed deeply into his eyes, trying to search for any signs of deceit in them. But all she saw was sincerity and sympathy within those pools of deep ocean blue. They were the eyes of someone who had been forced to endure one hardship after another throughout their entire life, someone who experienced first-hand just how cruel people can be to each other.

"But, the thing is, you don't have to to be alone. Not anymore, Rangiku-chan." he said, his eyes quickly brightening to their usual sunny disposition, as he wiped away the tears. "Despite everything that had happened to me, I still found people that accepted me. They were my light that kept me from being consumed by the darkness that was always around me. They were there for me whenever I needed help, just like how I want to be there for you."

Rangiku gasped in surprise, hardly believing what she had heard. Naruto continued on, regardless, as he eased up on his grip so that he could face her. "I've practically lived through hell when I was alive, and I'll be damned if I allow another person go through the same torture that I have. I know that you've just met me, and that you´re still missing your memories, but I'd really like to be friends with you, Rangiku-chan." he finished with a toothy smile that gave the appearance of a grinning fox.

"Y...you really w-want to be m-my friend?" she asked, doing a spot on imitation of the shy Hyuga heiress that he knew from the past.

"Well, I know that I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, and that I still have no understanding of how the Soul Society works. But, if you'd be willing to put up with me, I-" before he could finish, Rangiku slammed into him, throwing her arms around him in a one of the fiercest hugs that Naruto had ever received. But what made it even more important to him was how he felt her trembling against him and the small wet spots growing on the front of his kimono.

"I...I d-don't want to be alone anymore." she said, softly.

Naruto just smiled serenely, as he hugged her back, aimlessly stroking her hair in attempt to comfort her. "And you'll never will be from now on, Rangiku-chan." he said. "I'll always be there for you, I promise."

"Thank you." sniffled the girl in his arms, who made no effort to break the contact. Naruto just sat there, allowing Rangiku to release all of the pain and misery she experienced onto him. As he held her, he could help but think about all that had happened since he passed on. Sure, things didn't start off well for him in the beginning. But in the end, it didn't seem as bad as he once thought it would be. So what if he didn't end up in the most luxurious part of Rukonagi? He now had a friend that was so similar to him that it was almost scary. And unlike in Konoha, Rangiku seemed to truly care about his well being. That unfortunately brought his mind back to Konoha, and how the village would be dealing with his death. He knew that the majority of the population still thought ill of him due to the Kyubi, and that only a few people would actually be sad about his death.

'_Ah well, there's nothing that I can do about it now. I mean, sure, the people that actually cared about me will be sad, but they have their own friends and family to help them. Plus, now that the fox and I are dead, the Akatsuki will have no reason to target Konoha anymore. Besides, it's not like my death is going to affect the village as a whole. Everyone hates me, they'll be glad to be rid of me. In fact, I bet that they're celebrating my death right now.' _

**22 **

_Konohagakure _

The gray sky and steady downpour of rain matched the village's overall mood perfectly. It had been merely a day after the failed Uchiha Retrieval mission, as the village's shinobi forces were dressed in black and gathered at the latest addition to the graveyard that was reserved exclusively for those who have died in the line of duty. It was here that they would their respects to one Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze. Yes, Naruto's full heritage was finally revealed, and now everyone in the whole village knew.

It had all started when Tsunade held an emergency council meeting, in which she declared that Sasuke Uchiha had willingly defected from the village, and that he was to be marked as a missing nin. While the civilian council was in an uproar, the shinobi council gave their full support to the Hokage's decree, which instantly quelled any attempt to get the Hokage to reconsider her decision for the civilians. It was when she mentioned that Naruto was killed by Sasuke that things went downhill. The civilian council's attitude did a complete reversal, saying how the Uchiha had done them a favor before he left. The shinobi side were just non-pulsed about the revelation, but she could have sworn that she saw the Inuzuka and Hyuga clan heads smirking. But then, one arrogant councilor had the gall to say how that killing Naruto would have been enough to pardon Sasuke of his crimes. That was the last time anyone heard him speak, as the very moment that comment left his mouth, his head was forcefully separated from his body courtesy of one of Tsunade's chakra-enhanced punches.

While it may have not been the best response she could have made as Hokage, she did manage to get everyone's undivided attention. It was an opportunity, however, in which she fully took advantage of. She wasted no time in berating the civilian council for their callous and prejudiced behavior towards Naruto, treating him with disdain and hostility for a something that wasn't his fault. She then redirected her anger at the gathered shinobi clan heads, tearing into them at how they acted no better than the civilians, and had even gone as far as allowing their clansmen secretly orchestrate assaults on the boy; her glare lingered on Tsume and Hiashi for a brief moment at that point. When the another bold citizen demanded why she was making big deal about Naruto's death, Tsunade shocked everyone present by revealing who Naruto's parents were. That had gotten the desired results as the whole room became dead silent. Unsurprisingly, it was the same civilian that broke the silence, vehemently denying her claim to be true. It gave Tsunade a bit of grim satisfaction at seeing the council's reactions when she produced the necessary documents to prove her claims valid. Now, _everyone_ was mourning over the Naruto's death, including the very people that had made it their duty to make the boy's existence miserable.

'_Fucking hypocrites, the whole lot of them!_' thought Tsunade with a scowl. '_The minute Naruto's __parents are made known, these bastards act as if the Yondamie has died again. Yet not to long ago, they were planning a celebration over his death!' _But her gaze softened somewhat when she spotted some of the few people that didn't treat Naruto with scorn. The surviving members of the retrieval squad, was at the front most of the gathered group, each of them solemn faced and silent in paying their respects to their fallen comrade. Behind them stood the rest of the "Konoha 12" and their jonin instructors. Hinata was heavily leaning on Kurenai for support as she tried her best not to break down in despair. Sakura wasn't fairing well either, even with Ino by her side. Neji, she observed, still was displaying the generic emotionless "Hyuga expression", but she could see from his stance that it was just to hide his grief. She also spotted Iruka Umino behind the group, standing by Konohamaru and his little friends. To her surprise, Kakashi was actually on time for his student's funeral; she had half expected him to arrive three hours late like he usually did. But what was even more unexpected was the fact that Suna Siblings were present as well. When she asked why they had wanted to stay for the funeral, Gaara was the one to answer for the trio.

"I want to pay my respect to the one shinobi who saved me from my own self-destruction."

That had thrown Tsunade for a loop, and made her realize just how influential Naruto could be when he wasn't so hyperactive. To be able to change people like Gaara and herself was something true leaders would have given their arm to have. She mused that he would indeed have made an excellent Hokage, before grim reality brought her back into the present. She wasn't looking forward to telling Jiraiya of his godson's fate, as she knew that he had wanted to take Naruto on a three year training trip in preparation of the Akatsuki. She didn't even want to think of what he would do once he learned what had happened. With a sigh, she gazed up to the rain cloud filled sky, watching aimlessly as the rain continued to fall.

'_How fitting. It's as if heaven itself is crying for you, Naruto.' _she thought sadly, before she walked towards the head of the casket to begin the funeral services for Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, son of Minato Namikaze (Konoha's Yellow Flash and Yondaime Hokage), and Kushina Uzumaki (the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero and second jinchuriki of the Kyubi no Kitsune). It was truly a sad day in Konoha, as it would be the day that the village lost the last descendent of the Uzumaki clan, and one of its greatest heroes.

_To Be Continued _

**22 **

**Alright, Chapter 2 is finally done! Believe me, this was one chapter that I really wanted to do, yet had a really hard time doing it(what with a mild case of writer's block, European computer viruses, and traveling around Europe). I tried to have Naruto meet Rangiku in a similar way that Gin did, but a bit more spiced up to take in account that Naruto was the one that came to her rescue. If I portrayed anything incorrectly, please note that it is because this is my first time writing anything for BLEACH. And if it's not accurate enough? Well, it's called **_**fan fiction**_** for a reason. Oh, and BTW, there is some new fan art to help go along my stories, the links are on my profile page. Sorry for the delay, hopefully, the wait for the next update won't be as long...hopefully. Think of this as a post Thanksgiving gift. I tried to have it posted on Thanksgiving Day, but I was too late. Don't forget to read and review!**


	3. A Coincidental Encounter

**Second Chances**

**Hey! Alright, here's the third update. Once again, I own zilch. **

'_Blah'_- inner thoughts

"Blah"** -** talking

'_**Blah' **_- demon/monster speaking

"**Blah" -** jutsu/kido being performed

"**BLAH"** - really angry yelling

**#**- scene change

**333 **

**Chapter 3: A Coincidental Encounter**

_North Alley of Wandering Spirits_

It had been nearly one and a half years since Naruto had met Rangiku. During that time, the two had become the best of friends and learned to depend on each other. With Rangiku's knowledge of Soul Society, and Naruto's experience from when he was a shinobi, they were never too bad off. They found little jobs that they would pay them just enough to buy food for a day, but they never kept the same job for more than a couple of weeks, lest they draw unnecessary attention to themselves. Yet despite their teamwork, they _did_ have a few days in which they nearly had to go a day without eating. At those times, the whiskered blonde solved their plight with one of his raids, but this time he only stole enough for a day or two; there was no sense in stealing a week's worth of food, and then have to lay low for nearly a month. Rangiku, however, wasn't too keen on Naruto's last resort of stealing food for them, and had always made her opinion on the matter verbally known to him. In fact, it was the only time that Naruto had ever seen the girl angry. Yet despite his friend's attitude to his "alternative plan" for obtaining food, Naruto was more than willing to take the risk as opposed to seeing Rangiku starve again. It was an argument the two friends had countless, but after one particularly lengthy one that progressed to raised voices and unshed tears, the duo had reached a compromise: Naruto would only go out on one of his raids if it was an utmost emergency, and _**only**_ if Rangiku gave her permission to do so beforehand.

Despite that one incident, the duo had fallen into a type of routine that they followed diligently. Every morning, after a quick breakfast, they would each go to their respective job and work for the majority of the day. After they got off, which would be around late noon to early evening, they would meet up at the park where they first became friends. They would then have a small dinner, before turning in for the night. The two blondes were often exhausted by the end of day's work, but they always made sure to spend some quality time with each other, whether they were taking walks together or just talking about what happened that day. It wasn't the luxurious lifestyle that the citizens of the upper levels of Soul Society experienced, but they were content with being in each other's company. And despite the seemingly endless monotony that made up their life, they were happy to be together. But little did they know that their lives would soon be changed forever.

**333**

"What do you mean you're firing me?!" hollered Naruto, as he desperately tried to refrain from strangling the fat blob of a man in front of him that was once his employer.

"It's simple, kid." he answered in a wheezy tone. "The head manager is coming to inspect the premises in two days, and I don't want him to see no homeless kids working for me. You understand, right? It's just business."

"Business, my ass! You've had me working for your restaurant for over three weeks now, with ridiculously long hours and extremely low pay. Hell, your part-time workers make more money than I do, and they only work two to three days a week!" countered Naruto, his temper waning with each passing second.

"Yes, well what did you expect, hm? _They _aren't homeless street rats looking for handouts and going through garbage cans for food! They can actually provide legit credentials when they apply for work. You're lucky that I even considered allowing you to work for me at all!

"_Legit credentials?! _Who needs _legit credentials_ to work as a dish washer or a busboy?!"

"You know the rules! Unless you can provide a real address and proper identification, you're not fit to work. Now get out of here, I've got potential employees to interview." And with that, the slob began to waddle back to his office.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" asked Naruto, stopping the manager in his place.

The man just turned to stare at the boy, as if he were some annoying pest. "What? What do you want now?"

"My payment?" Naruto responded, holding out his hand to further his point. "I've worked at this joint for three days since my last pay day. So I would like you to pay me for the days that I worked whilst I was still under your employment."

"Tch, not on your life, kid. Or did you forget our little agreement when I hired you on? Because if I recall, The agreement was that I would let you work without going through the necessary back ground checks. In return, you would be working longer hours for a smaller paycheck, _and _you would only be paid for every work week you've completed." The obese man chuckled cruelly. "Tough break, kid, but them's the rules."

"WHAT?! I never agr...you never said anything about that stipulation!"

"Didn't need to, it was specifically mentioned in our little contract." The manager pulled out said document from an inner pocket in his greasy haori, his finger specifically pointing at a certain line. Naruto leaned in closely to search for the ridiculous clause, only for his eyes to widen once he found it hidden within the text.

"You've got that damn thing practically buried! No one could've possibly found it in their first reading!"

"Hey, it's not my fault you don't read contracts carefully." the fat man said smugly, stuffing the contract back into his haori.

"This is completely unfair! You can't do this!"

"Well guess what, brat? I just did! And there's not a thing that you can do about it. Sure, you can take this up with the local authorities, but then I'd have to tell them about a certain no-name street rat has been using my establishment as a place to hide stolen goods. But hey, I'd be more than happy to just forget all about your _5-finger discounts_ if you just walk away. It's all up to you."

Naruto flinched, knowing that the disgusting slob had him where he wanted. In one of his more amateurish mistakes, the blonde had been caught by the man eating some of his spoils, just moments after the patrol Shinigami had asked him to keep a look out for anyone suspicious that had products from a high-quality fruit vendor. At first, Naruto thought that his boss simply didn't care what he did so long as he kept working for him, but now it was obvious that he had been waiting for the right moment to use his "trump card" against him. Knowing that he had no way to counteract his former boss's blackmail, Naruto silently made his way out the restaurant, not willing to give the overweight bastard of a boss the satisfaction of hearing him admit defeat.

Naruto stormed out of the back kitchen, through the main dining area and out the front door, his mind a whirlwind of anxiety and dread. Although the whiskered blonde absolutely hated working for that jerk, it was still a means to make money for food, clothes, and other necessities for him and Rangiku. Additionally, now was not a good time for him to be jobless. About two weeks ago, the store where Rangiku was working at had gone out of business, and she was having a rough time in finding another job. And with their income practically cut in half, it made buying food a lot more difficult. Sure, Naruto was able to sneak a few meals from his job without his bastard boss catching on, and the cooks were nice enough to give him the leftover food when they closed up for the night, but it just wasn't enough. But now that he was unemployed once again, he didn't know what to do next.

"Naruto-kun!"

The sudden outburst broke Naruto out of his inner musings, and he found himself standing a few feet away from the clearing he and Rangiku had set up as their temporary home. It was somewhat discomforting that he had made it back home without him even realizing it.

"H-Hey there, Rangiku-chan." he answered with a tired smile, as she approached him. The girl that stood before him looked nothing like the one he had found when he had first arrived in Soul Society. Now that they were able to buy food on an almost daily basis, she no longer looked like she was going to starve to death out on the streets. She was dressed in a much cleaner black kimono than her last one, and had grown her hair down to her shoulders. But the most noticeable change that she had made to her appearance was the bright pink silk scarf that was tied around her neck. He had seen her admiring it from one of the stalls that they had passed whenever they went to work. Even though it had cost Naruto a surprisingly high amount of money, due to the fact that the scarf was made out of high quality silk, he felt it was well worth it. The look on her face when he'd given it to her as a gift on her birthday, which coincidentally was the same day that they had met, was priceless. That memory never failed to make him smile .

**333 **

_Flashback Starts_

"Hey, Rangiku-chan!" greeted Naruto, a massive grin stretched across his face as he saw his friend make her way towards their "home". He had a small package wrapped in old newspapers hidden behind his back, ready to surprise her. But his happy mood took a nosedive when he saw how depressed she looked. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"I got fired from my job at the clothes store, Naruto-kun." she said, despondently.

"What?!" exclaimed Naruto. "Why? I thought the manager liked you."

"She did, until she caught me trying to _steal_ from her. But I didn't do it, I swear." she hurriedly explained, seeing her friend's shocked expression.

"Of course you didn't, I know that you would never do such a thing. But why would the manager-"

"It was Maho Kazami." scowled Rangiku. "She snuck several of the more expensive products into my locker whilst I was on my break. When the manager noticed the products missing, Maho led her straight to me."

"But you were innocent! Didn't your boss at least give you a chance to explain your side of the story?"

"Tch, of course she didn't. If she had the choice of believing the words of a_ homeless bum_ or the testimony of a honest and _legal _employee like Maho, it'd be obvious that she'd seize the opportunity to get rid of _shifty employees_. Besides, I was already on thin ice with her because I could only work temporary shifts." she sighed. "So it looks like our funds are going to be strained for a while. Well, at least until I can find another job."

"I'm so sorry, Rangiku-chan. I know how much you liked working there." He scowled as he recalled the time he had met the woman. He had assumed that she had a fair and unbiased judge of character, but apparently he was wrong. "I can't believe that _fat_ _bitch_ fired you all because she believed that _spoiled bitch_ Maho's lies. I am _so _going to make both of them pay for this, make no mistake!"

"No, Naruto-kun, don't even think about that." The strawberry blonde sighed tiredly. "Look, can we please not talk about this now? I've had a very long day."

Oh, yeah, sure, of course." answered Naruto, internally kicking himself for dwelling on Rangiku's bad experience. "And I have just the thing to help distract you." With an elaborate flourish, Naruto whipped the wrapped package from behind his back and presented it to his friend. "Happy Birthday, Rangiku-chan!"

Rangiku's eyes widened in surprise. "M-My Birthday?"

Naruto nodded. "Do you know what today is?"

"Of course I do, it's September 29th; we met each other one year ago today."

"And on that day, we both agreed that September 29th was also going to be...?"

Realization flashed through her eyes. "My birthday!" The strawberry blonde lightly conked the side of her head with her fist, sticking out her tongue playfully. "I'm such an airhead! I've been so busy that I completely forgot my own birthday!" But her good mood soon vanished as she recalled what exactly had happened earlier that day. That is, until Naruto gave her a light flick to her nose, making her pout cutely.

"Hey now, none of that." said Naruto with a big smile stretched across his face. "This is your special day, and I won't have you spend it worrying about work. We'll deal with that mess tomorrow, okay?"

Rangiku wanted to protest, but the whiskered blonde's happy mood was just too infectious to resist. With a smile she accepted Naruto's gift, which she noticed was wrapped in old newspapers.

"Uh, sorry about the messy appearance, but I couldn't find any good cheap wrapping paper within my budget." said Naruto sheepishly. "But you'll really like what's waiting underneath the wrapping."

Rangiku just giggled at her friend's enthusiasm, as she tore into the newspaper with gusto, revealing a small bundle wrapped in thin white tissue paper that was extremely light in her hands. Her curiosity peaked even more, she carefully removed the secondary layer of paper, and gasped at what she saw. There in her hands, was a long, silken scarf, just like the ones that she had seen from that one stall that she passed by every day on her way to and from work. Word on the street was that they were tailored out of the softest of silk, by a woman who was a retired seamstress. She had always wanted one, but they were just too expensive, since most of their money went into buying food and other necessities. And then, in a cruel twist of fate, the very day that they could spare enough money to buy one was the day that the stall had sold the very last scarf. To make matters worse, the vendor said that the woman had stopped making them due to health issues. That was a sad day for the girl, as she thought that she'd lost her chance to buy something really nice, and yet, here was one lying her hands. And it was pink, her favorite color!

"This...this is..." she stuttered, disbelievingly, before her eyes darted to Naruto. "Where did you get this?"

Naruto's expression turned sheepish, as he began to idly scratch at his cheek. "Well, I noticed how often you'd stop by to look at those things, so I started saving up a little secret fund. I was actually lucky to raise enough money to buy the last one when I got off work early. The real challenge was keeping it hidden until your birthday." explained Naruto. "But the only scarf they had left was colored pink. So I'm sorry if it's the wrong color, but-"

Whatever Naruto was going to say was abruptly cut off, as he felt the air knocked out of him when Rangiku collided against his body and wrapped her arms around him in a massive hug. Naruto was momentarily stunned, considering that he didn't have much intimate contact with people when he was alive, but still managed to return the hug in a somewhat awkward manner.

"I love it!" exclaimed Rangiku, happily. "I absolutely love it!"

"R-Really?" asked Naruto, unsure of what he was hearing. Rangiku gave him one last squeeze before she stepped back, a beaming smile on her face.

"Of course I do! This is the best birthday present I've ever gotten!" Technically it was the _only_ birthday present that she recalled ever receiving, but that was beside the point. Relinquishing her hold on her friend, Rangiku took a step back and wrapped the silk garment around her neck, securing it with a simple knot. Now wearing her latest accessory, she struck a pose, holding a peace sign, and sending a playful wink towards Naruto.

"Well, how do I look?"

As Naruto took in her appearance, he began to realize that he was having a hard time keeping his impending blush under control. He couldn't understand why, but things had started...changing...between Rangiku and him. It started with just the simple things, from how she would always hug him after he came home from work, to how she always seemed to make him laugh whenever he was feeling down. But then, it began to progress further: the way her eyes always seemed to shine in the moonlight, how her laughter would send excited shivers down his spine, or how he liked how she seemed to always end cuddling up against him when they slept. He was beginning to experience feelings that he had never experienced before, not even when he'd been pursuing Sakura's affections when he was still amongst the living. That thought alone had kept the Uzumaki up for several nights, with countless unanswered questions constantly bombarding his mind.

"Hellllooooo, Naruto-kun? Are you still with me?" The whiskered blonde snapped out of his thoughts to see that Rangiku was still in pose. "Don't leave me hanging like this. Aren't you going to answer my question?"

"Uh, s-sorry, Rangiku-chan. Y-You look really cute in that scarf." Naruto managed to utter through his flustered stuttering.

Rangiku's eyes widened in surprise, while cheeks darkened with a small blush. "Do...Do you really mean that?"

"O-Of course I do!" He cursed himself for sounding so nervous. She was his friend, he shouldn't have any trouble talking to her. "It's just that I wish that I could've gotten you something more than just a scarf." He was about to say how he wanted to buy her something else, when he felt a pair of warm and moist lips being pressed against his cheek. Turning to his left, he saw that Rangiku was blushing up a storm, but she managed a small smile.

"Well, I think it's perfect." she said quietly, before engulfing the other blonde in another hug. "Thank you for the lovely present, Naruto-kun."

_Flashback Ends _

**333 **

"NARUTO-KUN!"

The whiskered blonde was jostled out of his reminiscing by Rangiku's voice, bringing him back to reality. He noted that his friend was looking at him with concerned eyes.

"Sorry about that, Rangiku-chan. What was it that you were saying?" he asked.

Rangiku huffed in annoyance at her friend's habit of spacing out at the most awkward of times. "I said _what are you doing home early_? Don't you usually get off from work later than this?"

Instantly, Naruto's mood soured as his mind recalled the fiasco he had just experienced. Seeing his downtrodden expression, Rangiku immediately knew that something was up. "What's wrong, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto sighed. "I was just let go from the restaurant."

"WHAT?! But why?! Your supervisor has been making you work six days a week with reduced pay for almost a month! Why would he just fire you on the spot like that?!"

"Well _apparently_, the general manager is coming by this week, and the fat bastard thought that a _street rat _like me working there would make for a bad report. So, he sacked me, but he made sure to do so after I was nearly finished for the day."

"But he paid you for the days that you worked, right?"

"HA!" laughed Naruto, sarcasm heavily lacing his voice. "Have you actually _seen _the guy I that I used to work for, Rangiku-chan? He weighs more than the both of us combined; that alone shows that he cares more about fattening his own wallet _and _himself than paying his employees a decent wage. Plus, he managed to trick me into signing a contract where I only got paid for every work week I complete. And guess who just missed next week's paycheck by four days?" he finished by jabbing his thumb to himself.

"That's completely unfair!" shouted Rangiku. "How could he do something so...so...ARGH! If he was right here, I'd punt him! Isn't there anything that you can do?"

That question earned a grimace from Naruto. "Not if we want the local authorities to catch wind of us." At her questioning glance, he continued. "The guy managed to catch me in an awkward position when I grabbed a few things from that old high-quality produce store, but didn't do anything or turn me in. Since he didn't fire me on the spot that day, I thought that he just forgot about it. But I guess that was just wishful thinking on my part, he was just saving his little discovery until he needed it."

"That fat bastard!" growled Rangiku angrily, before she engulfed the other blonde in a hug. "I'm sorry that you were fired from your job, Naruto-kun."

"Thanks, Rangiku-chan, but I'm the one who should be sorry. I mean, me getting fired isn't exactly what we need at this moment." replied Naruto, as he returned the hug. He didn't want to ask what was on his mind, but he knew that he couldn't simply put it off until later. "Out of curiosity, how much food do we have left?"

"Just enough to last us for about three days."

"And how are on the money situation?"

"We...we probably have enough to buy enough supplies to last us two more days."

Naruto bit back the curse that he wanted to shout. "And what about the job interviews? Got any possible callbacks lined up?"

Rangiku just shook her head, not feeling like answering. Naruto sighed once again, already beginning to feel a headache coming on.

"Oi vey, aren't we in a mess?" said Naruto to himself, before his gaze turned back down to the girl still hugging him. "So, now do you regret not taking up that Gin guy's offer to go to Seireitei?" He yelped as he felt Rangiku pinch his arm sharply. The irritated look she gave him showed that she wasn't amused.

"That's not funny, Naruto-kun! I thought we agreed to not talk about that anymore." she chided.

"I know, I know, but I was just saying that-"

"Look, I understand what you're talking about, but I meant what I said five months ago. You remember that promise that we made, right?"

**333 **

_Flashback Start_

Naruto was in a good mood for once. He had managed to finish his work at his current job as a stock boy for a grocery store, allowing him to punch out early at 3 PM, and he managed to find a sale on apples, bread, and ground beef. He was on his way to surprise Rangiku, as she usually got off work at around this time, but as he turned the corner, he was surprised to see his friend talking to a boy that looked like he was around their age. He had pale, white hair and his clothes were in a somewhat better condition than both his and Rangiku's, although he could still see some minute stains and tears. But for some reason, he couldn't help but stare at the boy's face. For some reason, that big smile combined with those closed eyes just rubbed him the wrong way; his expression reminded him of a weasel, fox, _and _a snake all at the same time. From what he could see, the two were in the middle of an interesting conversation, which bothered him for some unknown reason, and prompted him to make himself known.

"Rangiku-chan!" His shout managed to catch his friend's attention, her eyes brightening when she saw her best friend approaching her.

"Naruto-kun! What are you doing here?" she exclaimed, as she ran towards him and engulfed him in a hug.

"I managed to get all of my work done early, so I decided to surprise you. And, I managed to find a few good sales at the grocery store, so we're going to be set for the next few days!"

Rangiku cheered in delight, whilst the strange boy looked somewhat perplexedly at him.

"You need to eat as well?" asked the boy.

Naruto just stared at him as if he grew a second head. "Well, yeah, because not eating is just too painful and uncomfortable, uh...what's your name?"

"Oh! I'm sorry, I completely forgot!" interjected Rangiku, before she gestured to the boy standing beside her. "Naruto-kun, this is Gin Ichimaru. Gin-san, this is my best friend, Naruto Uzumaki."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Naruto-san." said Gin, as he gave a small polite bow.

"Likewise." replied Naruto, giving a bow of his own. "But back to your question. Why did it surprise you to find out that Rangiku-chan and I need to eat?"

"Because an ordinary soul doesn't really require much food to survive. Only those with large amounts of reiryoku must have constant nourishment."

"Rei...yo-wha?"

"Reiryoku, or spiritual energy as it's commonly known. It's the energy that resides inside every soul within the Soul Society. The amount of reiryoku varies from soul to soul, with the Shinigami being the ones that normally have the largest reserves. It is through their reiryoku that they are able to enhance their fighting capabilities, enabling them to safeguard the souls in both our world and the living world."

That caught Naruto's attention. Ever since that Sarugaki girl had helped him pass on, he became curious as to what made the Shinigami tick. And if they relied on this "reiryoku" to fight, then he reckoned that they were somewhat similar to the shinobi from his old home world. But there was still something that he didn't fully understand.

"How do you know all of this, Gin-san?" asked Naruto, warily.

Gin's smile widened, which put Naruto on guard for some reason. "Well, it's simple, really. I possess reiryoku, too. Granted, I don't have as much as you do, Naruto-san, but I'd say I'm just about at Rangiku-chan's level."

As Rangiku gushed over Gin's knowledge of spiritual energy, Naruto couldn't help but scowl at how familiar the strange boy seemed to act with his friend. That bothersome feeling was back again, only this time it was a bit stronger.

"So, do you live around here, Gin-san?" he asked, in an attempt to keep the silverette's attention away from Rangiku.

"Well, no, I don't. I somehow got lost on my way to District 32, and I happened across Rangiku-chan here. She was kind enough to point me back to the right path."

"Oh, I'm glad that she was able to help then; there are quite a few characters that you wouldn't want to run across in District 64, if you know what I mean. I guess that you probably want to get on your way if you want to reach District 32 before nightfall."

"Actually, there was something that I wanted to tell Rangiku-chan just before you found us. And now that I think about it, this will most likely affect you as well."

Naruto and Rangiku shared a brief worried glance, before turning their attention back to Ichimaru. "What are you talking about, Gin-san?"

"Lately, there has been talk about an increase in crime and violence around the lower districts. Robbery, fights between gangs, murder, they're all occurring more frequently at an alarming rate. And on top of that, jobs are becoming more and more scarce for those that are...without proper homes."

With each passing word that left Gin's mouth, the more Naruto's heart sank. It was already becoming increasingly difficult to hold onto jobs in their district; even more so whenever they had to find new ones. And having to maintain constant vigilance over himself and Rangiku for the less...favorable...characters that prowled the streets at night for any woman or child they could corner, didn't exactly help him in the long run.

"Where exactly is this happening? Which districts are displaying the surge in violence and crime?" the whiskered blond asked.

"So far, from what I've personally heard, it's mainly happening in Districts 70 through 80. But with the way things are, I wouldn't be surprised if your district becomes affected as well."

"And is that why you're trying to get into District 32?

"Yes, actually, I am."

"Then you must have some pretty well-connected friends. I know that the gateways to District 40 and upwards are heavily guarded, and that the only way that someone from the lower districts can ever hope to be allowed passage is by travel papers. But those are extremely hard to come by, especially if you're from the slums."

"But not if you know people who can make forgeries of said papers that look convincing enough to fool the guards." retorted the silverette.

Naruto looked at the squinty-eyed, smiling stranger in shock; trying to gain passage to the upper districts with counterfeit travel papers was an extremely dangerous risk, and was punished _**quite**_ severely whenever someone was caught in the act. "Those papers must have cost an arm and a leg to get."

The Ichimaru boy actually chuckled. "I have to admit, the price was quite steep, but I'd say that it was worth the sacrifice for a chance at a better life. My partner and I were going to attempt our little trip two days ago, but when I arrived at our meeting place, she never came. It was only yesterday that I learned that she was killed in a massive gang fight."

Rangiku gasped in horror, her hands unconsciously shooting up to cover her mouth, whilst Naruto remained respectfully silent. They had seen their fair share of gang fights, and were fortunate enough to avoid getting caught in the crossfire. But those that weren't as fortunate as them were never the same afterward, that is _if_ they were lucky enough to survive.

"I'm...so sorry for your loss." said Naruto, having no idea on what to say beyond a simple apology.

"Thank you. I was, at first, tempted to just forget about the pilgrimage to District 32, but I eventually decided that doing so would be an insult to her memory. I had a few close calls, but one in particular had forced me to take more drastic measures to ensure my escape, which caused me to lose my way. That's when I happened across your friend, and she was willing to help me out. We talked a bit about our lives until you found us, Naruto-san." Gin then turned back to Rangiku. "But I wanted to ask you something very important, Rangiku-chan. Even though my friend had passed away, I still kept her passage papers. And I was wondering, would you like to come with me to District 32?"

"Come with you?! " exclaimed Rangiku, caught off guard with Gin's offer. "But, why?"

"I want to give you the chance for a better life. With things getting progressively worse in the lower districts, I thought that it would best if you left while you still had the chance. Granted, I didn't know that you were living with someone, and I apologize for springing this proposition so suddenly in front of you and your friend."

"But what about Naruto-kun? Isn't there any way that we can find someone that can forge passage papers for him as well?"

"I wish that there was some way to help him, but the man who wrote up these papers had left right after he made them for my friend and me. And there isn't enough time to search for anyone else to create false papers for your friend; it would cost too much and our window of opportunity to escape has a time limit. If we want to travel to the upper districts, we would need to leave today."

Throughout the conversation, Naruto's mind was a torrent of conflicting emotions; he didn't know how to feel towards the situation that had been practically thrust into his face. He felt elated that there was a chance that Rangiku could escape the slums for a better life; jealousy that it was this Gin stranger that was providing her a means of escape; anger that Rangiku's acceptance of the proposal would mean that his friend would stop traveling with _**him**_, as well the fact that he was getting angry with himself for being angry in the first place! It was all very confusing to the young boy, and he didn't know how to make sense of it all. And it only made things worse when he noticed that Rangiku's hesitant gaze was focused on him. He could see the uncertainty and nervousness in her eyes; the fact that she wanted his opinion on what to decide made him feel touched that she valued his input, and slightly worried that she could potentially ruin her only chance of happiness if he told her not to go. And that thought alone made Naruto sick to his stomach. If he prevented his friend from finding happiness, even if it was unintentional, he would never be able to live with himself.

"It's all up to you, Rangiku-chan. Whatever you decide to do, I'll always support you." he said with a smile, despite the feeling that he was thrusting a rusted knife into his heart with each word that left his mouth. The sensation only worsened once he saw Rangiku's eyes take on a firm resolve, a resolve that filled his being with dread and anxiety.

"I really appreciate your offer, Gin-san," she began, prompting Naruto to turn away so not to see Rangiku leave with the stranger that promised her an escape from District 64, "but I'm afraid I'm going to have to decline."

Not believing what he had just heard, Naruto whipped back around to face Rangiku, who was smiling brightly at him. Gin froze, so surprised by the girl's answer that the whiskered blonde was able to briefly see the silverette's eyes, in all of their red glory.

"What? Did you actually think that I would just leave District 64 without you?" she continued, chiding him playfully. "When we first met, you promised me that you would always be there for me, right? Well, guess what? That promise of yours goes both ways, buster!"

"But...But Rangiku-chan," stammered Naruto, "this could be your only chance to get out of District 64. Are you sure that you really want to give it up?"

"Naruto-san has a point." said Gin, deciding to add his own two cents. "The living conditions are only going to worsen for this district. It would be best if you escaped as soon as possible."

"I know," replied Rangiku, "but life in the upper districts just wouldn't be the same without my best friend. I really appreciate your gesture, Gin-san, but I'm not going anywhere without Naruto-kun. Either we both leave District 64 together, or no one leaves at all."

_Flashback Ends_

**333**

"Of course I do. I could never forget, even if I wanted to." answered Naruto, relishing the embrace he was sharing with Rangiku as he recalled one of his favorite moments. He always enjoyed their hugs; he always felt at ease for some reason.

That was the last time either of them had seen Gin Ichimaru. He'd left once Rangiku made it perfectly clear that she wasn't going anywhere without Naruto. And while Naruto was extremely touched that Rangiku treasured their friendship to such a strong degree, there were still times in which he wondered if she would've been better off going with the silverette. Like Gin had predicted, life in District 64 began to drastically worsen. Jobs were becoming harder and harder to find, and crime rates had gone up within the district. At first it was just robbery and random fights breaking out. But soon, there were more heinous crimes like abduction, rape, and murder occurring with alarming frequency. There were nights where Naruto went without sleep in order to make sure that no sick pervert tried anything with Rangiku. Sure, it left him completely exhausted in the morning, but his friend's safety was worth more than a few hours of sleep. And now, with the recent loss of his job, things weren't looking well for the two blondes.

"Aw, well isn't that sweet? Two street rats embracing each other in the slums of District 64." sneered an arrogant male voice. The blondes whipped their heads in the direction where they heard the voice, and were met with a very unwelcome sight. There standing behind them was a trio of police officers, all of whom were leering dangerously at the duo. Although Naruto managed to keep a cool façade, he was panicking like mad in his mind. The leader of the trio had been the lead investigator in his "raids"; he'd noticed that particular officer investigating the scene every time he stole from a store.

"Um,...can we help you, sir?" Naruto asked, politely, hoping to somehow avoid any possible physical confrontations.

"Yeah, you and your little friend can come with us, quietly, to the station." snarked the officer that was to the left of his commander. The one on the right just nodded, the smirk never leaving his face.

"I'm sorry, but I don't understand what you're talking about. Are we being accused of something?"

"Don't try and play innocent with us, brat. We know that you're responsible for a chain of robberies from several stores in the area throughout the past year and a half. And since your little girlfriend didn't report your crimes, and instead seemed to have _profited_ from them, I'd say that she's guilty if being your _accomplice_!" the commanding officer all but snarled.

It took all of Naruto's self-control not to panic, the only sign of anxiety being the slight widening of his eyes. "Those are some big accusations you're throwing around." he said. "You three had better have substantial evidence to back them up."

The three policemen guffawed cruelly at the boy's words, as if he was a part of some inside joke. "Did ya here that, lads?" said the lead officer in between laughs. "The little bastard is asking for evidence of his crimes!" When he had finally gotten his laughter back under control, he shot a particularly nasty look at the young pair. "Well, how's this for undeniable evidence: your last employer gave us a tip that he caught you with merchandise that had been reported stolen from a store a few weeks ago."

"And how do you know that he's not lying to you guys?"

"Because he just so happens to be an old friend of mine, you little shit."

"Then why isn't he in trouble?! He was purposely withholding vital information! How come he isn't being incarcerated as well? " Rangiku couldn't stand being silent any longer, watching as Naruto tried to defend the two of them.

"Because, if I have to choose between showing leniency towards two homeless, thieving street rats, or a taxpaying supervisor of a restaurant, then it's quite obvious whose side I'm gonna take. And here's a hint: _it's not yours_." The commander's underlings erupted in another cruel bout of laughter, which sent chills down both Naruto and Rangiku's backs. The policemen in District 64 had a nasty penchant of being "easily persuaded" by outside forces and were known to be violent towards suspected criminals, engaging in acts of brutality which both Naruto and Rangiku had observed several times already.

"And another thing, considering that you lot have managed to remain undetected for so long, you two are going be locked up for a fairly long time." continued the officer, his subordinates slowly inching towards them. Naruto's eyes slowly met Rangiku's for a brief instant, before they about-faced and made a run for it. But they didn't get far, as two more officers appeared in front of them, with their katanas drawn from their sheaths. Backing away from the new enemies, they glanced behind them, and saw the first three officers approaching, joining the other two in forming a circle around them. "Oh, I can't tell you how long I've waited to catch you two, after all of the humiliation that we've endured. I hope the both of you aren't afraid of the dark, because it's going to be your new best friend. But don't worry; you two will get to share your suffering together!"

Naruto's heart rate skyrocketed, his eyes darting from officer to officer as his mind desperately tried to think of a way to escape. Yet even he knew that their situation was bleak; he and Rangiku were up against five, fully-trained law enforcers, all of whom knew of their past actions. He was brought out of his panicked thoughts, when he felt something take hold of his hand. Chancing a glance, he saw Rangiku's quivering hand grasping his own. She was terrified of what was going to happen next, he could see it in her eyes. Naruto wanted to reassure her, to tell her that they would find a way to get out of their current debacle, but he knew just how futile it was. Staying silent, he gave her hand a hard squeeze, as they helplessly watched the officers approach closer.

'_I'm so sorry, Rangiku-chan. I tried my best to protect you, but it just wasn't good enough.'_ he thought, as the lead enforcer finally stopped a few feet in front of them. Naruto pulled Rangiku into an embrace in a last-ditch effort to shield her from the brunt of the impending beating, and clenched his eyes shut. A tense silence permeated the area, as he waited for the the first blow to land, when suddenly-

"**Bakudō # 1: Sai!**"

"**Bakudō # 4: Hainawa!**"

-five surprised yelps sounded throughout the area, followed swiftly by a flash of light so intense that Naruto could vaguely see it through his eyelids. Puzzled as to what was going on, Naruto slowly cracked one of his eyes open a smidgen, only for both of them to bolt open as he gasped at the sight before him. Rangiku, her curiosity getting the better of her, looked to see what her friend was looking at, only to gape at what she saw. All five officers were on the ground, struggling in vain to free themselves from a bright yellow glowing rope that was tied around their bodies. And on top of that, their arms, which were crossed behind their backs, looked as if they were being held in place by some unseen force. It was quite the sight to see, one that the duo silently agreed was much better than the previous one. But before they could even try to get away from the whole fiasco, two black blurs landed in front of them.

They were both tall young men, in their mid to late twenties, their backs facing them. Both of them were wearing black shihakushōs, with white obi belts tied around their waists. On their feet were straw sandals with white tabi socks. The only thing that really made the two stand apart was their hair color; the one on the left had ash gray hair, whilst the right one's was raven black.

"You know," began the black-haired one, "I could've handled this on my own. This _is _one of my division's duties, after all."

The other man laughed. "That's true, but I thought that you could do with a little help. Besides, as a member of the Ninth Division, it is my sworn duty to be ready in case of emergencies. You know, being in charge of security and everything."

"Yeah, _for all of Gotei 13_. And on top of that, you oversee the development of new arts and culture, _and _are in charge of that _Seireitei News _magazine. _My division_, however, handles assassination jobs, policing duties, and maintaining the detention facilities."

"And let's not forget your _glorious_ courier duties, messenger boy."

"Oi! That's some tough talk coming from a _newspaper reporter._"

"You want to start something, _fire-spitter_?!" exclaimed the gray-haired man as he literally butted heads with his compatriot.

"Maybe I do! What are you going to do about it, _tree hugger_?!" countered the ravenette, who pushed back against the man's forehead with his own.

"You arrogant Shinigami scum, release me this instant!" Before the two Shinigami could continue their bickering, the hogtied leader of the policeman decided to make himself known. Silently agreeing to hold off their little argument until later, the ravenette walked to the immobilized law enforcer until he was standing right in front of him, his toes inches away from the man's nose.

The policeman gazed up at the Shinigami with a sneer, not even attempting his contempt. "You Shinigami bastards! Who do you think you're doing, trying to muscle in on my jurisdiction?!"

"What I'm _doing_, you despicable, corrupt piece of shit," snarled the Shinigami, "is my job: making sure that scum like you and your cronies are properly punished! And considering your long list of crimes, Kamata, I'd say that every single one of you will be lucky enough to avoid getting the death sentence."

"You can't do this to us! Where's your proof?!"

"Proof? _**PROOF**_?! How about the countless instances in which you and your little followers have repeatedly gotten away with extortion, blackmail, accepting bribes, making arrests under false pretenses, _**rape**_, and let's not forget about _**MURDER**_?! And don't even think about trying to deny your horrendous crimes, you despicable son of a bitch, we've had an agent on the inside for the past few months, gathering all of the evidence that we'll need in order to make sure all of you never see the light of day." Suddenly several more black-garbed Shinigami arrived on the scene, further shocking the young teenagers. "Take these scumbags into custody immediately. I want them processed and behind bars yesterday." commanded the Shinigami with spiky black hair.

"You bastards! You shit-eating, rat bastards! You won't get away with this!" screeched Kamata, as he and his squad were dragged away.

"Tch, they _always _say that." said the gray-haired Shinigami, acting as if he had seen such a situation plenty of times before.

"Well, people do stupid shit when they're desperate." He then took notice of the two teenagers who had witnessed the entire debacle, and who had most likely been chased by Kamata and his thugs. "I can't begin to apologize for what you've had to experience from that lot. Are the two of you okay? Do any of you ne-" Whatever the he was about say next died in his throat the moment he turned to face them, which gave Naruto the chance to finally get a proper look at one of their rescuers. The man with spiky black hair had an angular face, with some subtle scarring on his right side, and had charcoal black eyes. On the left side of his shihakushō, right around where his left pectoral would be, was a strange emblem that Naruto had never seen before. It was white diamond-shaped patch, with the short ends being bordered with small black triangles. In its center was the kanji character for the number 2, and had a black basque flower underneath it. The entire patch had a dark orange border surrounding it. But what really stood out for Naruto was the man's shocked expression, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Wh-What the..What the hell are you doing here? You're not supposed to be here!" the Shinigami exclaimed suddenly, shocking the youngsters out of their stupor. Immediately, Naruto began to have a severe case of d_éjà vu, specifically when he was still alive, ___**and**___ when he had first arrived in the Soul Society. _

_"Hey! You can't talk to him like that! Just who do you think you are?!" exclaimed Rangiku, immediately coming to his defense. Her hold on his hand tightened, as if she were expecting that their supposed savior would turn on them, and they had to make a sudden escape._

"What? No, no, no! I mean you're not supposed to be here yet. You're supposed to still be alive!" countered the ravenette, pointing directly at the boy in question.

'_What is he talking about?_' pondered Naruto,'_I'm supposed to still be alive, what is he talking about? Was this guy watching over me when I was still a ninja?_'

"Whoa, now hold up for a second. What's gotten you so worked up, Uchiha?" interjected the second Shinigami, his attention drawn to the commotion. Like his cohort, he too had a white and black diamond patch on the left side of his shihakushō, except his had the kanji character for the number 9 as well as a white poppy flower, and a _tenné__-colored border. Yet just one glance at the man's face was all it took to capture's Naruto's attention. It was almost like looking in the mirror for the whiskered blonde. With the exception of the green-gray eyes, semi-blushed cheeks, and the sandy/ash gray hair, the adult standing before him looked almost exactly like him. Hell, the man could possibly a distant cousin, uncle, lost older brother, or maybe, just maybe... _

_"...Dad?" _

__To Be Continued... __

**Firstly, I would like to thank Vandenbz for beta-reading my work, and making it so much neater. **

**Can any of you guess which anime Maho Kazami originated from? Huh? Anyone?**

**Secondly, before anyone recognizes the elephant standing in the room, yes, I am aware of how long it has taken me to update this story. But the thing is, my life hasn't been going too well for me as of late. Loads of personal problems occurring one after another, and accidentally losing all of my files, has caused severe writer's block for me, as well as loss of inspiration, to the point I was almost ready to just give everything up. So fair warning to everyone, if you're expecting me to push an update every few weeks , then you're going to be disappointed. For those who have stuck with me, I greatly appreciate it, for those who haven't I hold no hard feelings. **

_**Please read and review, tell what you did and didn't like! **_


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